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MISSOURI'S HALL OF FAME. 



MISSOURFS HALL OF FAME 

LIVES OF 
EMINENT MISSOURIANS 



BY 

FLOYD CALVIN SHOEMAKER, A. B., A. M. 

Secretary of The State Historical Society of Missouri 

Editor of The Missouri Historical Review 

Author of "Missouri's Struggle for Statehood." 



" ll'/jen a tnan of action^ dies, the -world -will pause a motnent, 
pay tribute to his in'ork and achievment. and pass on; but the 
jcveiberation of that man's impact -with the world continues. 
It jnitst be great to be a pioneer, to be a stndi)ig star, to point 
the ivay. Men of this type can not die. They make their oivn 
path and they leave a trail.'"— ^. V. Mosby. 



Published by 
THE MISSOURI BOOK COMPANY 

Columbia, Missouri 
1918 






Copyrighted, 1918 

BY 

THE MISSOURI BOOK COMPANY 

Columbia, Missouri 

All Rights Reserved 



m c 



\Cj\0 



©CI.Af50&685 



•^'^ 



TO 
MY FATHER AND MOTHER 

jrhose Sacrifices in my Early Youth and Precepts in Boy 
• hood Days Guided my Ambitions and Education, 
This Book, in Affection and Grati- 
tude, is Dedicated. 



PREFACE 

EVERY state has its hall of fame. These halls of 
fame are not built of rock and mortar but exist 
in the hearts of the people. They are more endur- 
ing than hardest granite because they are part of 
the history of this nation. In them are enshrined the 
lives of those great men and women who have helped 
civilization. 

Missouri can well be proud of her sons and daugh- 
ters who have won fame. She ranks high in the num- 
ber and the character of her famous men and women. 
She has sent to Congress statesmen of national re- 
nown. She has produced artists and authors of worth. 
More than any other state did she send forth her 
hardy men to explore and settle the West. She gave 
to the nation journalists of ability and courage. She 
has borne reformers and scientists, whose work will 
live. Her soldiers have cast glory on their patriotic 
people. 

The lives of these men should be familiar to every 
Missouri schoolboy and girl. Missouri is truly great 
in men and women. No state excels her considering 
years, for she is not a century old. 

It seems regrettable that the lives of these men 
are not more widely known. No book devoted ex- 
clusively to this subject has been published for use 
in the public schools. To partially remedy this, has 
''Missouri's Hall of Fame — Lives of Eminent Mis- 
sourians" been written. 

The author is indebted to the following persons 
who have kindly aided him: Dr. Walter B. Stevens, 

vii 



viii Preface 

of St. Louis; Dr. Fern Helen Rusk, of Columbia; 
Ivan H. Epperson, of Columbia; Mrs. Nelle G. Bur- 
ger, of Clark (Mo.) ; Hon. Louis Houck, of Cape 
Girardeau; Harper and Brothers, of New York; 
and W. L. Webb, of Independence. 

The sketch of the life of Joseph B. McCullagh was 
specially compiled for this book by Dr. Walter B. 
Stevens, President of The State Historical Society 
of Missouri. 

To Hon. Uel W. Lamkin, State Superintendent of 
the Public Schools of Missouri, the author is in- 
debted for suggestions of value. 

To Mr. E. M. Carter, Secretary of the State Teach- 
ers' Association of Missouri, and Prof. W. W. Chart- 
ers, formerly Dean of the School of Education of the 
University of Missouri, the author is indebted for 
their suggestion regarding the need of such a book 
in the public schools of the state. 

The name ^'Missouri's Hall of Fame" was first 
used by Dean Walter Williams in one of his public 
addresses. 

Floyd Calvin Shoemaker. 



CONTENTS 

Authors Page. 

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, "Mark Twain" 3 

Eugene Field 19 

Artists 

Carl Wimar 29 

George C. Bingham 36 

Explorers 

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark 49 

Inventor and Scientist 

James B. Eads 59 

Journalists 

Joseph B. McCullagh 70 

Wm. R. Nelson 78 

Walter Williams 89 

Reformer 

Clara C. Hoffman 95 

Soldiers 

Alexander W. Doniphan 104 

John J. Pershing 115 

Statesmen 

Edward Hempstead 124 

Rufus Easton 128 

John Scott 132 

David Barton 137 

Thomas Hart Benton 148 

Lewis F. Linn 156 

David R. Atchison , . . . 172 

James S. Green 177 

James S. Rollins 184 

Edward Bates 190 

Frank P. Blair 197 

James Shields 207 

John B. Henderson 213 

Carl Schurz 218 

Francis Marion Cockrell 226 

George G. Vest 232 

Richard P. Bland 246 

William Warner 256 

Champ Clark 263 

(1) 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

Barton, David 139 

Bates, Edward 193 

Benton, Thomas Hart 145 

Bingham, George Caleb 37 

Birthplace of Mark Twain 6 

Blair, Frank P 198 

Bland, Richard P 247 

Clark, Champ 264 

Clark, William 52 

Cockrell, Francis Marion 229 

County Election, by Bingham 40 

Doniphan, Alexander W 107 

Eads, James B 60 

Easton, Rufus 128 

Emigration of Daniel Boone, by Bingham 48 

Field, Eugene 21 

Green, James S 178 

Hempstead, Edward 124 

Hoffman, Clara C 97 

Jolly Flatboatmen, by Bingham 44 

Lewis, Meriwether 51 

Linn, Lewis F 15S 

Mark Twain in His Library 4 

Mark Twain Unveiling Tablet on House Where Eugene 

Field Was Born 20 

Monument to Richard P. Bland, Lebanon, Missouri 252 

Order No. 11, by Bingham 46 

Pershing, John J 116 

Rollins, James S 186 

Schurz, Carl 219 

Shields, James 209 

Two of Mark Twain's Homes in Hannibal 8 

Verdict of the People, by Bingham 42 

Vest, George Graham 234 

Warner, William 257 

Williams, Walter 91 

(2) 



SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS, "MARK 
TWAIN,'^ 1835-1910 

Arrterica's Greatest Humorist. 

SEVERAL years ago a Missourian was traveling in 
the Hawaiian Islands. It was in November but 
all the children were out of school. The streets were 
crowded with boys and girls who were joyously run- 
ning around covered with flowers. The traveler 
asked one of the boys why he was not in school. The 
boy was surprised by such a question and replied: 

"Why don't you know?" 

The man shook his head. 

"This is a holiday in Hawaii," said the boy. 

"What are you celebrating?" 

"We are observing the birthday of Mark Twain, 
whom we love more than any American," said the 
boy. 

The traveler learned that the boy spoke the truth, 
for of all the Americans who have visited the Ha- 
waiin Islands, Mark Twain was one of the most be- 
loved. 

Missouri has produced many great men, — states- 
men, orators, explorers, scientists, artists, and au- 
thors. Of all these, however, one stands out as the 
most widely known over the earth, the most beloved, 
and in some ways the most famous. This man is 
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his 
pen-name, "Mark Twain" — America's greatest humor- 
ist. 

(3) 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 




(From A. B. Paine's "Mark Twain: A. Biography: copyright 
1912, by Harper & Brothers.") 



"MARK Twain," 1835-1910. 5 

Born in Florida, Monroe county, Missouri, on 
November 30, 1835, he came of good Virginia-Ken- 
tucky parents. They were poor but educated. His 
father was a lawyer but kept a store to make a liv- 
ing. When Mark Twain was three years old, the 
family moved to Hannibal, a thriving town on the 
Mississippi River where many steamboats passed 
each day. 

Mark Twain was a delicate boy and he was sent to 
a farm for his health. He was soon like other Am- 
erican boys, happy and full of life. 

He never liked school. He was good in spelling 
and liked to read history, but was poor in other stud- 
ies. He liked to go down to the river and see the 
steamboats come and go. He liked to talk to the 
negro helpers, the travelers, and the pilots. But 
best of all did he enjoy getting a few companions 
and explore caves or get in a boat and row to an 
island out in the river. Here these young boys would 
plan to be pirates, just like boys still do. 

He had his sweetheart but the love affair never 
went farther than love-notes. He was just a plain, 
average American boy, full of life. Frequently he 
played tricks, but fortunately nothing serious hap- 
pened except a whiping. Once he scared his mother 
by jumping out of a two-story building. Again, he 
pretended to be talking in his sleep when he asked 
some of the strangest questions. One day a circus 
came to town and he gave the elephant a plug of 
tobacco. He never waited to see what happened but 
slipped out of the tent. 

One of the best stories told on him was about his 
winning a prize Bible from the Sunday-school for 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 




ft 

fao: 
Sol 






''Mark Twain," 1835-1910. 7 

memorizing the most verses from the Bible. Any- 
one who memorized ten verses was given one blue 
ticket. A red ticket was given for ten blue ones; 
a yellow ticket for ten red ones; and a fine Bible 
for ten yellow tickets. This meant that one had to 
memorize ten thousand verses to get the Bible. Al- 
though Mark Twain had not memorized a single 
verse, he presented ten yellow tickets! He had 
traded with the other boys and won the prize. 

For several years Mark Twain worked for his 
brother, Orion Clemens, who owned a Hannibal news- 
paper. He then left for St. Louis and went East. 
For four years he set tjiDe in New York, Philadelphia 
and Washington. 

Returning to Missouri with little money but with 
much experience he again worked with his brother 
on a newspaper in Keokuk. He soon became tired 
of this. Reading of Brazil, he decided to explore the 
Amazon River! Finding a fifty dollar bill in the 
streets of Keokuk one day, he picked it up and ad- 
vertised for the owner. No one claimed the bill and 
after three days, he left town as he said ''to take 
that money out of danger." 

He went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and then went by 
boat to New Orleans. He gave up his plan to go to 
Brazil and began training to be a pilot on the Missis- 
sippi River. In those days, pilots received large 
salaries and were considered important men. After 
several years Mark Twain was given charge of 
a steamboat. He became a good pilot. He not 
only learned the river with its dangerous snags, 
caving banks, stones and sandbars, but met all kinds 
of men. His spare hours he employed in conversation, 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 







1^ 



o |-§ 



II 



''Mark Twain," 1835-1910. 9 

in playing the piano and singing. His life as a pilot 
was of greatest value to him, and in later years 
when he became an author, he wrote a book, ''Life 
on the Mississippi," which told of his experiences. 

During the Civil War, he enlisted as a Confederate 
and was captured. Escaping, he decided to join 
his brother, Orion, who had been appointed Secretary 
of Nevada Territory. His trip across the plains and 
mountains he never forgot, and later wrote a book, 
"Roughing It," about his experiences in the West. 

In Nevada Territory he tried mining but failed. 
He then tried reporting for a newspaper and succeed- 
ed. While here he adopted his pen-name, "Mark 
Twain." On the Mississippi River when a steam- 
boat approached a sandbar, a line with a lead weight 
was thrown into the river to measure the depth of 
the water. The man holding the line would cry out, 
"Mark Twain," "Mark three," etc. — meaning that 
the water was two fathoms or three fathoms deep. 

From Nevada he went to San Francisco and wrote 
articles for newspapers in California. He visited 
some of the islands in the Pacific, and wrote articles 
of his trip. His writings soon attracted attention. 
He wrote one good article which he sent to an east- 
ern magazine. He signed it "Mark Twain" and wait- 
ed anxiously to see it printed. Imagine his disgust 
when he read the magazine to see his article signed 
"Mike Swain" — his signature had been so poorly 
written that the editor of the magazine had made the 
mistake. 

While in California, Mark Twain wrote one story, 
"The Jumping Frog of Calaveras," that was copied 
all over the United States. It made him famous 



10 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

in a day. Mark Twain had first heard the story in 
one of the mining camps. 

Here is the story as Mark Twain told it: 

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras 
County 

(From Mark Twain's "The Jumping Frog; copyright 1903, by Harper 
& Brothers.") 

Well, thish-yer Smiley had rat-tarriers and chicken 
cocks, and tomcats, and all of them kind of things, 
till you couldn't rest, and you couldn't fetch nothing 
for him to bet on but he'd match you. He ketched 
a frog one day, and took him home, and said he cal'- 
lated to educate him; and so he never done nothing 
for three months but set in his back yard and learn 
that frog to jump. And you bet he did learn him, 
too. He'd give him a little punch behind, and the 
next minute you'd see that frog whirling in the air 
like a doughnut — see him turn one summerset, or 
may be a couple if he got a good start, and come 
down flat-footed and all right, like a cat. He got 
him up so in the matter of ketching flies, and kep' 
him in practice so constant that he'd nail a fly every 
time as fur as he could see him. Smiley said all a 
frog wanted was education, and he could do 'most 
anything — and I believe him. Why, I've seen him 
set Dan'l Webster down here on this floor — Dan'l 
Webster was the name of the frog — and sing out, 
"Flies, Dan'l, flies!" and quicker'n you could wink 
he'd spring straight up and snake a fly off'n the 
counter there, and flop down on the floor ag'in as 
solid as a gob of mud, and fall to scratching the side 
of his head with his hind foot as indifferent as if he 



''MARK Twain," 1835-1910. 11 

hadn't no idea he'd doin' any more'n any frog might 
do. You never see a frog so modest and straight- 
for'ard as he was, for all he was so gifted. And 
when it came to fair and square jumping on a dead 
level, he could get over more ground at one straddle 
than any animal of his breed you ever see. Jump- 
ing on a dead level was his strong suit, you under- 
stand ; and when it came to that. Smiley, would ante 
up money on him as long as he had a red. Smiley 
was monstrous proud of his frog, and well he might 
be, for fellers that had travelled and been anywheres 
all said he laid over any frog that ever they see. 

Well, Smiley kep' the beast in a little lattice box, 
and he used to fetch him down-town sometimes and 
lay for a bet. One day a feller — a stranger in the 
camp, he was — came acrost him with his box, and 
says: 

''What might it be that youVe got in the box?" 

And Smiley says, sorter indifferent-like, ''It might 
be a parrot, or it might be a canary, maybe, but it 
ain't— its only just a frog." 

And the feller took it, and looked at it careful, 
and turned it round this way and that, and says, 
"H'm— so'tis. Well, what's he good for?" 

"Well," Smiley says, easy and careless, "he's good 
enough for one thing. I should judge— he can out- 
jump any frog in Calaveras County." 

The feller took the box again and took another 
long, particular look, and give it back to Smiley, and 
says, very deliberate, "Well," he says, "I don't see 
no p'ints about that frog that's any better'n any 
other frog." 



12 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

''Maybe you don't," Smiley says. ''Maybe you 
understand frogs and maybe you don't understand 
'em; maybe you've had experience, and maybe you 
ain't only a amature, as it were. Anyv^^ays, I've 
got my opinion, and I'll resk forty dollars that he 
can out-jump any frog in Calaveras County." 

And the feller studies a minute, and then says, 
kinder sad like, "Well, I'm only a stranger here, and 
I ain't got no frog, but if I had a frog I'd bet you." 

And then Smiley says: "That's all right — that's 
all right; if you'll hold my box a minute, I'll go and 
get you a frog." And so the feller took the box and 
put up his forty dollars along with Smiley's and set 
down to wait. 

So he set there a good while thinking to hisself, 
and then he got the frog out and prized his mouth 
open and took a teaspoon and filled him full of quail 
shot — filled him pretty near up to his chin — and set 
him on the floor. Smiley he went to the swamp and 
slopped around in the mud for a long time, and final- 
ly he ketched a frog and fetched him in and give him 
to this feller, and says: 

"Now, if you're ready, set him alongside of Dan'l, 
with his forepaws just even with Dan'l's, and I'll 
give the word." Then he says, "One-two-three-git!" 
and him and the feller touched up the frogs from 
behind, and the new frog hopped off lively; but 
Dan'l give a heave, and hysted up his shoulders-so- 
like a Frenchman, but it warn't no use — he couldn't 
budge; he was planted as solid as a church, and 
he couldn't no more stir than if he was anchored out. 
Smiley was a good deal surprised, and he was dis- 



"MARK TWAIN," 1835-1910. 13 

gusted, too, but he didn*t have no idea what the mat- 
ter was, of course. 

The feller took the money and started away; and 
when he was going out at the door he sorted jerked 
his thumb over his shoulder— so— at Dan'l, and says 
again, very deliberate: "Well," he says, '*! don't see 
no points about that frog that's any better'n any 
other frog." 

Smiley he stood scratching his head and looking 
at Dan'l a long time, and at last he says, "I do 
wonder what in the nation that frog throwed off for 

I wonder if there ain't something the matter with 

him— he 'pears to look mighty baggy, somehow." 
And he ketched Dan'l by the nape of the neck, and 
hefted him, and Bays, *'Why, blame my cats if he 
don't weigh five pound!" and turned him upsidedown, 
and he belched out a double handful of shot. And 
then he sees how it was, and he was the maddest 
man — he set the frog down and took out after that 
feller, but he never ketched him. 



From 1867, the year the famous frog story was 
written, Mark Twain rapidly grew in public favor. 
He traveled extensively and observed closely. He 
wrote many books and these were read by hundreds 
of thousands. Some were translated into other Ian- 
guages, and their author became known in both 
hemispheres. Turks read his books in Constantinople, 
Chinese in Canton, and Australians in Sidney. North 
and South Americans, Europeans, people of the 
islands of the seas, enjoyed his quaint humor. His 
wit pleased the boy of sixteen and the man of sixty. 
They were written for all people. 



14 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

Mark Twain was equally successful as a lecturer. 
He was considered one of the best in America. 
Wherever he spoke, large crowds listened to him. 

He settled in the East, first in New York and 
later in Connecticut. Noted travelers from Europe 
thought it a privilege to visit his home. He was as 
interesting in conversation as in writing. 

His wife was Olivia L. Langdon, whom he married 
in 1870. She was a highly cultured woman and was 
the literary adviser of Mark Twain until her death. 
Their married life was peaceful and happy except 
for the death of their children. Mrs. Clemens 
greatly loved her husband. Instead of calling him by 
his first name, Samuel, she always called him "Youth." 

Mark Twain was a man strongly built, of ruddy com- 
plexion, light hair and light twinkling eyes. He had 
a hearty manner. 

He was a constant smoker. Every hour of the day 
he sat puffing a cigar or a pipe. He was a great 
reader. He spent much of his time in the morning 
sitting propped up in bed. Here he would write his 
books and lectures. 

His health was good. At the age of seventy-five 
years he began to fail, however, and died in Con- 
necticut, on April 21, 1910. Some of his best known 
books besides those that have been mentioned are: 
"Tom Sawyer," "Huckleberry Finn," "A Tramp 
Abroad," "Innocents Abroad," "Prince and Pauper," 
"The Guiled Age," "The Man that Corrupted Hadley- 
burg," and "Pudd'nhead Wilson." 

As a humorist Mark Twain ranks among the great- 
est the world has produced. He was always full of 
good, hearty fun and never seemed to grow old. 



''Mark Twain," 1835-1910. 15 

This is shown so well by his wife calling him 
"Youth." No exageration was too absurd for him. 
He not only made fun of other people but took 
pleasure in joking about himself. Here is one of his 
stories on himself. 

He said that while sleeping one day, two monkeys 
came to his room. On awakening, one of the monkeys 
was brushing his hair before a looking-glass. The 
other was crying. He observed the monkey who 
was weeping and saw that he had just read one of his 
(Mark Twain's) best jokes. The joke was so poor 
that the monkey couldn't keep back the tears. 

In writing and speaking, Mark Twain used small 
words. He was a fine story-teller. A joke always 
appealed to him and he was not above playing jokes 
on others. Once he went to Washington, D. C, and 
was invited to the White House, where the President 
of the United States lives. Mrs. Cleveland, wife of 
President Cleveland, was at home and she and Mark 
Twain enjoyed their conversation. Before leaving 
Mark Twain asked Mrs. Cleveland to sign her name 
and write these two words on the back of a card: 

"He didn't." 

Mrs. Cleveland did this and Mark Twain left. On 
reaching his own home he showed this card to Mrs. 
Clemens. On turning the card over she read what 
she herself had written before her husband left for 
Washington. She had known that Mark Twain 
would probably visit the White House and that he 
was very forgetful of his personal appearance. So 
she had written on the card this sentence: 

"Don't wear your rubbers." 



16 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

Mark Twain prepared his lectures with care. He 
rehearsed each word and gesture. Although he 
prepared everything, he was still a good speaker 
without preparation. 

A reporter once asked Mark Twain's advice as to 
what he should write his paper, which had erroneosuly 
printed that the great humorist was dead. 

"Say that the statement of my death is greatly 
exaggerated.'' 

Mark Twain said that compliments were always 
embarrassing. One never knew how to receive them 
naturally. Besides, one always felt that the person 
had not said enough. 

One day while in London, Mark Twain was taken 
by a friend to the studio of a famous artist. After 
being introduced, the artist showed him one of the 
pictures he was painting. 

After looking carefully at the painting, Mark 
Twain said he didn't care much for that cloud, and 
appeared to be on the point of rubbing the cloud 
with his gloved finger. 

"Don't touch it, the paint's wet," cried the artist, 
fearing his visitor would ruin the picture. 

"Oh, that's all right," drawled Mark Twain, "these 
aren't my best gloves anyhow!" 

Mark Twain had many "doubles" over the world. 
The number kept increasing. Once a month on an 
average, he received a letter from a new "double," 
enclosing a photograph in proof of the resemblance. 
The thing became tiresome to Mark Twain. He 
once wrote to one of these doubles as follows: 

My dear Sir: 



''MARK Twain," 1835-1910. 17 

Many thanks for your letter, with enclosed photo- 
graph. Your resemblance to me is remarkable. In 
fact, to be perfectly honest, you look more like me 
than I look like myself. I was so much impressed 
by the resemblance that I have had your picture 
framed, and am now using it regularly, in place of 
a mirror, to shave by. 

Yours gratefully, 
S. L. Clemens. 

He was witty on all subjects. He once said that a 
cauliflower was nothing but a cabbage with a college 
education. 

As a world-famed genius no man has become more 
widely known. They say that even the Turkish 
guides in Constantinople, the Arab guides in Egypt, 
and the Italian guides in Rome, try to get customers 
by saying they had known M-ark Twain when he 
visited there. 

One day while visiting in a foreign country, Mark 
Twain was introduced at the palace to the king. 
The king complimented the great American on his 
books, said that he had read them, and that he had 
greatly enjoyed them. On returning to his room 
that evening, the janitor of the house stopped him 
and said he also had read his books with great 
pleasure. Here was a compliment from a ruler and 
a servant on the same day in a distant land. 

As a philosopher, Mark Twain is also worthy of 
mention. He saw the truth in persons and things. 
He also saw the shams. When he wrote he made 
fun of the shams whether it was a millionaire, a 
king or a statesman. He sympathized with the poor 
and the ignorant. He pitied them for their lack of 



18 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

opportunity. Nothing made him so indignant as to 
see injustice. Beneath much of his writing which 
most persons looked upon as mere wit and fun, lay 
serious thoughts. 

It was this serious, practical and philosophical 
side of Mark Twain as well as his great genius as a 
humorist, that made universities confer honors on 
him. A mere joker, a fun maker, may be a good 
companion, a widely read author, a man popular with 
the people, but his fame will soon fade. If beneath 
his wit and humor, however, are found true state- 
ments on the life and habits of man, he will live. 

Oxford University in England recognized the true 
greatness of Mark Twain by conferring on him a 
Doctor's degree. This was the first time that this 
university had so honored a humorist. The University 
of Missouri also honored him in a similar way. 
Before the world, Mark Twain stood recognized by 
both the man on the street and the professor in the 
college as an author of distinction. 



EUGENE FIELD, 1850-1875 

Poet Laureate of Children 

/^^OOD poets never lack lovers. Their writings 
^J endear them to mankind. This is especially true 
of poets of children. They may not make us richer, 
frame good laws, explore countries, or make dis- 
coveries, but they do brighten our lives. They give 
us pleasant memories, and make us appreciate better 
the joys and sorrows of childhood. Ranking high as 
a children's poet is a native of Missouri. Schools and 
libraries have been named for him. Holidays have 
been observed in his honor. His lovers are numbered 
by the thousands. He has been called the 'Toet 
Laureate of Children." His name is Eugene Field. 

He was born in St. Louis on September 3, 1850. 
His parents were natives of Vermont. His father was 
a lawyer and came to Missouri in 1839. He became 
prominent in this state and on his death left a 
large estate. There were two sons, Eugene — the 
elder — and Roswell. Their mother died when Eugene 
was six and he was sent to a relative in Massachu- 
setts. Eugene was reared in Massachusetts until 
he was about seventeen, when his father died. He re- 
ceived a good education and attended college. He 
then went to Knox College in Illinois but stayed 
there only a short time. 

His brother, Roswell, was attending the University 
of Missouri in Columbia and Eugene joined him. 

The life of Eugene Field, or ''Gene" as most 
persons called him, at the Univeristy of Missouri, 

(19) 



20 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 



is interesting. He entered it in 1871 and left in 
1873. During these two years his college days were 
filled with activity. He cared little for study but 
enjoyed writing, singing and playing jokes. He was 
the leader of the students who worshipped him. 
Although he caused the professors considerable 



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Mark Twain Unveiling Tablet 

On House Where Eugene 

Field Was Born 

trouble with his pranks, they could hardly keep 
from smiling at him. 

He was six feet tall. The students called him 
^'Field r' and his brother 'Tield H." 'Gene was a 
good actor. He had a voice, rich and deep. He was 
a fine speaker and singer. He won a medal for 
oratory. In theatricals given by the students he 
trained the others and was always the star. 



Eugene Field, 1850-1875. 



21 



He did not take his college days very seriously. 
He was wealthy and did not care for study except 
just before examination. He liked to get a crowd of 
boys around him and tell stories. He also enjoyed 
writing. He was literary editor of the first student 
publication, called the University Missotirian. He 
helped found this 
paper in 1871; it 
lived two years. It 
was really a fine 
paper of its kind. 
All of Field's early 
writings, both po- 
etry and prose were 
printed in it. 

While in the Uni- 
versity he made 
friends with every- 
body in Columbia. 
He played the gui- 
tar and enjoyed 
going with his com- 
panions to some 
fair lady's 
and serenading her 
He was a great favorite both for his singing and his 
conversation. Next to his guitar in his heart 'Gene Field 
was a little black rat terrier called ''Penny." He took 
"Penny" with him in the morning to his classes, to 
the table at noon, and to his girl's house in the 
evening. Since 'Gene was leader of the students he 
attended their councils. Sometimes when the stu- 
dents' council was trying to solve some problem, 




EUGENE FIELD 
VinmA (From Walter B. Stevens' "Missouri; The 
^^'^"^'^ Center State.") 



22 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

'Gene would get down on the floor and have a great 
time with 'Tenny/' until his friends stopped him. 

He was this way all the time. Full of life, he 
enjoyed making others laugh. The jokes he played 
during his college days would fill a good sized oook. 
Here are only several of the best known ones. 

The president of the University was Doctor Reed, 
who owned a fine, large carriage horse. One night 
'Gene Field slipped into the pasture, roached the 
horse's mane and shaved his tail. The next morning, 
disguised as a horse-trader. Field went to Doctor 
Reed and asked what he'd take for ''that big gray 
mule out there." The Doctor said that he hadn't any 
mule and that the one in the pasture must belong to 
some other person. 

Another night he took Doctor Reed's horse and 
painted it. The owner never recognized it the next 
day and marked it a "stray." 

Again, Field borrowed a donkey and tied it near 
the Doctor's window where it kept the president of 
the University awake all night with its braying. 

There are dozens of stories like these told about 
Field's days in Columbia. He may have been a poor 
student but he was certainly an active one. 

On reaching the age of twenty-one he inherited 
sixty thousand dollars left by his father. Eugene 
Field decided to travel. Taking a companion, he 
went to Europe. He must have enjoyed himself 
while abroad. He returned in a year, having spent 
all of his fortune. He said in later life that he never 
regretted what that year cost him. 

He now worked as a reporter in St. Louis. His 
career as a journalist had begun. He continued as 



Eugene Field, 1850-1875. 23 

a writer for city newspapers until his death in 
Chicago on November 4, 189^'. 

Soon after working in St. Louis he married a 
St. Joseph girl, the sister of his companion abroad. 
The story of his wedding is not so well known but 
it shows his peculiar love for children, that makes 
him today so dearly beloved. 

The wedding ceremony was to take place at a 
certain hour. The guests and the bride arrived on 
time but no groom appeared. The ceremony was 
delayed and still no groom. A messenger was sent 
and found that Eugene Field had stopped on his 
way to settle a quarrel between two boys in the 
street. And there was 'Gene Field in his best suit, 
down on his knees in the dirt playing marbles! 

After his marriage Field worked on the news- 
papers in St. Joseph. He said that those first two 
years of his marriage were th^ happiest in his life. 
Altho he wrote about the other years of his life, 
he never wrote a line about those first two years. 
He said they were too dear and precious and sacred. 
We love a man who has such ideals. 

After leaving St. Joseph, he worked on newspapers 
in Kansas City, Denver and finally in Chicago. In 
the latter city he worked on the Chicago ''News" and 
"Record" until his death. On these papers he filled 
from one to two columns daily under the heading 
"Flats and Sharps." These later appeared in book 
form. He gained much prominence by his articles 
as well as by his books. 

His first writing to appear in book form was "The 
Tribune Primer," written while he was on the 
Deyiver Tribune. In 1889 he published two volumes, 



24 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

one entitled ''A Little Book of Western Verse," and 
the other ^'A Little Book of Profitable Tales." These 
were widely read and at once gave him a national 
reputation. Another book of verse appeared in 
1892. This was followed by "The Holy Cross, and 
Other Tales." In 1893, he and his brother, who was 
also an author and a journalist in Chicago, published 
"Echoes from the Sabine Farm." "Love Songs of 
Childhood" were published in 1894. After his death 
were published "The House" and "The Love Affairs 
of a Bibliomanic." All of his works have since been 
published in a set of ten volumes and have had a 
large sale. They are read by the old and the young, 
and give pleasure to both. His most widely read 
poems are those on children. 

His own love for children made him appreciate 
them. Although he had a grave countenance and 
rarely smiled, children loved him from the start. 
He was so joyous and playful that they felt that he 
was just like they were. He liked dolls! In his 
home he had a case with shelves that was filled with 
all kinds of dolls and toys. Whenever he went to a 
friend's home, the children flocked around him. 
Some would get on his knees and others at his side. 
Then he would tell them the funniest stories and ask 
the queerest questions. The children would laugh 
all the time, but Field wouldn't smile. 

Once he went to the house of a prominent pi*eacher 
who happened to be out. Of course, the children 
had read his "Little Boy Blue" and other poems, and 
they gathered around him. He asked them where 
the "kitchen" was. They understood, and led him 
to the kitchen. There they found part of a roast 



Eugene Field, 1850-1875. 25 

turkey and other good things. Taking these into 
the dining room, they all had a fine feast. The 
celebrated preacher learned that evening at the 
supper table that Eugene Field had been there. 

Eugene Field was a queer man. He liked to 
write with different colored inks. Over his desk 
hung a sign : "This is my busy day." He made 
money easily but was always poor. Whenever he 
saw an old vase, an ax, or any old curio, he bought it. 
His home was filled with these things. It looked 
like a curiosity shop or a secondhand store. Persons 
wondered how Mrs. Field endured having this old 
junk around, but his four little girls must have 
greatly enjoyed fingering his collection. 

Eugene Field was always without money. He 
decided to ask the editor of the Chicago News for 
an increase in salary. Each morning as he entered 
the newspaper building he walked to the private 
office of the editor, and each time his courage failed 
him. On morning a tramp with four poorly clad 
children appeared in the editor's office. They stretch- 
out their hands and said: 

''Please, sir, won't you raise my father's salary?" 

The editor was astonished until the ragged man 
took off his slouch hat, when there stood Eugene 
Field! Of course, the editor enjoyed the joke and 
"my father's salary" was raised. 

Many stories are told of Eugene Field's love for 
men and children. These two stories are by another 
Missouri poet, Lee Shippey, to whom they were told 
by a reporter friend of Field's when they both worked 
on the Kansas City Times: 



26 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 



A Child's Friend 

"He was a poet and a child, a man of great tender- 
ness and generosity. His love for children was one 
of his strongest characteristics. One cold night I 
went up to The Times office to see him. When we 
came out together we saw the office boy, a tiny, 
thinly clad youngster, waiting in the draughty hall 
for midnight, when it was his duty to go to the 
postoffice for the mail. 'Gene saw him and patting 
him on the shoulder gave him a quarter and sent 
him home to his mother. Then 'Gene and I went 
to the postoffice and lugged back to the Times office 
four big sacks of mail. As we puffed up the stairs 
'Gene said: 'This is pretty tough, but I'll bet that 
boy's mother was glad to see him. ' " 

A Tramp's Friend. 

"One day Field came into my place with a ragged 
tramp whose teeth chattered and whose flesh showed 
blue through the rents in his clothing. 'Here, 
Gaston,' he said, 'come and buy this chap a suit of 
clothes. It's an outrage that a man should not be 
decently clad in this sort of weather.' I put on my 
coat and we took the tramp to a clothing store. 
'Gene picked out a suit worth twenty-five dollars, 
as good as he wore himself, and the best shirt and 
socks in the place. I objected to buying the tramp 
such expensive clothing, saying that a cheaper suit 
was good enough, and after a long argument he 
compromised on a suit for twelve dollars, for which 
I paid, advancing the money for Field. 



Eugene Field, 1850-1875. 27 

''One day he had his salary and I met him in the 
street. He showed me the money and said it would 
take every cent of it to pay his rent. As we walked 
up the street we came to a china store and stopped 
to look in the window. There was a beautiful cup 
and saucer imported from France and elaborately 
decorated. We both admired it and 'Gene turned 
to me and said: 'Do you like that, George?' I re- 
plied that it was very beautiful. When I got home 
that night I found the cup and saucer. It was a 
present from 'Gene and the rent w^as not paid that 
time." 

In some ways Eugene Field was like Mark Twain. 
He hated sham and hypocracy. He was never afraid 
to expose pretense and dishonesty. He once told a 
fellow reporter: 

"I've always made war upon shams. I've stood 
always in my work for decency and manliness and 
honesty. I'm not much physically, but morally, I'm 
not a coward." 

His poetry on children is read more today than 
when it was first printed. He was not a great poet 
but he was a poet that boys and girls, men and 
women, love. 

Perhaps his most widely known poem is his 
"Little Boy Blue." He had a little son who died. 
Mrs. Fields gave her husband the key to the closet 
where the boy had kept his toys. She told Eugene to 
lock the closet without disturbing any of the toys. 
Years later she said that he might unlock the 
closet and see what was in it. Here is what Eugene 
Field found as he told it in his poem, "Little Boy 
Blue:" 



28 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 



LITTLE BOY BLUE 

The little toy dog is covered with dust, 

But sturdy and stanch he stands, 
And the little toy soldier is red with rust, 

And the musket molds in his hands. 
Time was when the little toy dog was new 

And the soldier was passing fair, 
And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue 

Kissed them and put them there- 

"Now don't you go till I come," said he, 

"And don't you make any noise!" 
So toddling off to his trundle bed 

He dreamt of the pretty toys. 
And as he was dreaming, an angel song 

Awakened our Little Boy Blue — 
Oh, the years are many, the years are long. 

But the little toy friends are true. 

Aye, faithful to Little Boy Blue they stand 

Each in the same old place. 
Awaiting the touch of a little hand. 

The smile of a little face. 
And they wonder, as waiting these long years through, 

In the dust of that little chair, 
What has become of our Little Boy Blue, 

Since he kissed them and put them there? 



CARL WIMAR, 1829-1862 
Missouri's Great Painter of hidians 

AMERICA has produced a number of famous art- 
ists. A hundred years ago she had painters 
who studied art in Europe under European teachers. 
When they came back to America they painted 
European pictures. There were as many interesting 
things to paint in this country as there were in 
Europe, but for some reason these American artists 
did not paint them. Here were old forts, big rivers, 
lofty mountains, and prairies and woods where roamed 
the buffalo and Indian. No finer subjects could an 
artist wish to paint than these. What could be more 
picturesque than the savage American Indian on his 
wild pony hunting a herd of buffalo! Or, a tribe 
of Indians attacking a white settlement and carry- 
ing off prisoners! Still; the American artist did 
not appreciate his opportunities in his own country. 
Then came one who saw and loved these things; 
who when a boy roamed through the woods and 
made friends with the Indians. This boy was not 
born in Missouri but he lived and died here. His 
name was Carl Wimar, Missouri's great Indian 
painter. 

Born in Germany on February 19, 1829, Charles 
Ferdinand Wimar, or Carl Wimar as he always 
signed his name, came to America at the age of 
fifteen years. With him came his mother and her 
family. His step-father had emigrated several years 

(29) 



30 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

before and had settled in St. Louis, where they all 
made their new home. 

St. Louis was then a frontier town. It was the 
headquarters of the American Fur Company. Every 
year many Indians came to St. Louis to trade their 
furs for guns, powder, lead and other things. The 
Indians always camped at the edge of town near 
young Wimar's home. 

The shy German lad had never seen Indians before 
and he was greatly interested in them. He would 
go to their camp and ask them questions about their 
wars, hunting parties and escapes from wild animals. 
He soon became a great favorite with his new 
friends. One big Indian warrior had a special fancy 
for young Wimar, and would take him into the 
woods and teach him how to use the tomahawk, the 
spear, and the bow and arrow. In a short time 
Wimar loved his Indian friends and they were 
always welcomed to his home. They would go to 
his home, open the door softly, and glide without 
noise into the living room. Then they would startle 
the family by saying, ''How?" 

During this time the young boy was filling his 
memory with pictures of greatest value to him in 
later years. He observed closely the dress of his 
Indian friends, he studied their half-naked bodies 
and he never forgot. He was naturally an artist and 
everything appealed to him. Man, clouds, sunshine, 
mountains, streams and woods were observed by him 
and stored away in his mind. 

Wimar's parents were poor and it was necessary 
that he find work to help make a living for the 
family. It was decided that he should learn a trade 



Carl Wimar, 1829-1862. 31 

and he said he wanted to become a painter. He 
first worked with a common painter of houses and 
steamboats but he had a higher ambition. He soon 
found a sympathetic friend named Pomarede, who 
saw that young Wimar had great talent as an artist. 
Pomarede was an artist and soon entrusted Wimar 
with more important work than painting houses and 
steamboats. He permitted him to paint picture 
signs, and decorate wagons with pictures. Wimar 
became a good workman and was original. He was 
always prompt and cheerful, and worked hard. He 
was reliable except when a new band of Indians 
visited St. Louis. Then the old desire would come 
over him and forgetting everything he would visit 
his red men friends. 

At this time occurred the most romantic incident of 
his life. In the humble home of his parents a poor 
traveler, sick and homeless, rested one day and begged 
for shelter and food. Poor as was the family, they 
took pity on him and offered to share their frugal 
home. The needy one was of refined appearance and 
good education. The parents asked no questions of 
their guest, who soon became very ill. They nursed 
him until he had been brought back to health. While 
recovering he took a great interest in the artistic, 
gentle lad and sympathized with his love for art. 
The stranger .spoke to the boy and to his father of 
the opportunities that Carl would have if he could 
only study art in Europe, but this was impossible, 
for the father was too poor. On regaining his 
health, the stranger, whose name they had never 
asked, thanked them for their great kindness and 
left their home. For years no tidings came from 



32 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

the stranger. Young Wimar continued to paint 
signs :*nd decorate wagons, and forgot the refined 
strangci\ 

One day on coming down the Missouri River from 
a sketching trip, young Wimar was told that he had 
fallen heir to a small fortune. 

The stranger on returning to his own country had 
inherited some money. He was soon stricken with 
a fatal illness, and made his will in favor of Carl 
Wimax, whose parents had sheltered and fed him 
when he lay sick without money in St. Louis. The 
kindhearted act of Wimar's parents finally made 
possible the training of one of the greatest Indian 
artists of America. 

Wimar set out for Germany in 1852 and studied 
under several of the greatest German artists for 
four years. They called him the Indian painter. 
He had great ability and studied hard. While in 
Germany he painted a number of fine pictures, before 
he was twenty-five years old. Among these were 
^'The Captive Charger," "Attack on an Emigrant 
Train," and ''Abduction of Daniel Boone's Daughter 
by the Indians." All these were Indian subjects and 
were well painted. 

Wimar returned to St. Louis in 1856 and during 
the next six years painted a large number of excel- 
lent Indian pictures, the most famous being: 'The 
Buffalo Hunt," "The Buffalo Hunt by Indians," 
"Billy Bowlegs" (a Seminole Indian Chief), "The 
Wounded Buffalo," "Buffalo Crossing the Yellow- 
stone," "Lost Trail or War Trail," "Buffalo Cross- 
ing the Platte Kiver," "Indians Pursued by American 
Dragoons," and "Buffalo Dance." 



Carl Wimar, 1829-1862. 33 

During these six years Wimar made several trips 
to the Upper Missouri River and visited the Indian 
tribes on the plains. His first trip was in 1858. 
He took with him a camera, oil paints, crayons 
and pencils with which to reproduce the Indians and 
their homes. 

The steam.boat he went on had a calliope (steam 
organ). When this began to play, the Indians were 
greatly frightened and thought it the voice of some 
monster. 

The Indians were also afraid of Wimar's camera. 
They refused to have their pictures taken unless 
Wimar gave them presents. Some of the Indian 
tribes thought that the camera would give them the 
smallpox. 

Wimar carried a number of toys and trinkets 
with him to trade with the Indians. With these he 
obtained from them, Indian weapons and costumes. 
He had a double looking-glass. One side made a 
true reflection of a person's face, and the other 
side made a face much larger than it really was. 
Wimar showed this to one Indian chief who was so 
scared when he saw the big face that he threw it 
down and ran away. Wimar picked it up and show- 
ed the true side of the looking-glass to another. 
All was well until Wimar mischeviously turned the 
glass to the other side. The Indians thought Wimar 
was a magician. • Finally he traded the wonderful 
glass for a fine bow and a pack of arrows. 

On later trips the Indians came to know Wimar 
better and all loved him. The squaws made him 
head-dresses, tobacco-pouches, and other articles and 
gave them to him. He was gentle to all and never 



34 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

had an enemy. When the Indians learned of his 
death, they mourned for him the same as if he had 
been one of their tribe. 

His many trips to the Indians .on the Upper Mis- 
souri River not only furnished him with material for 
dozens of pictures but also hundreds of Indian 
articles. He had a large museum in St. Louis, and 
the best collection of Indian weapons in America. 

Wimar looked like an Indian. He had prominent 
cheek-bones, small eyes, and the pigeon-toed walk 
of the American savage. One of his companions, for 
years, said that he had always thought Wimar was 
part Indian. 

He was gentle, shy and reserved. He loved his 
mother and said he always wanted to be able to buy 
her a home. Towards his later years he contracted 
tuberculosis. He was sick most of the time but 
continued painting. His paintings sold well and he 
was beginning to make a fair income. One day he 
said: 

"Mother, if I last long enough, I shall be so rich 
that I can have a bank account." 

He married in 1861 and one child was born, but 
it died in infancy. 

His last work was painting and decorating the 
dome of the St. Louis Court House. He asked five 
hundred dollars for this work but was given one 
thousand dollars, which was indeed very cheap for 
Buch fine paintings. His health continued failing 
and he had to be carried to and from his work. 

On returning home one night he said to his wife: 

"This is my last work, when the dome is finished 
I shall be finished too," 



Carl Wimar, 1829-1862. 35 

His words were only too true for on finishing the 
dome, the paint brush fell from his hands and he 
died on November 28, 1862, at the age of thirty- 
three years. 

Carl Wimar was more than an ordinary artist. He 
had genius both in imagining pictures and in paint- 
ing pictures. He saw clearly the great field for the 
artist in the Indian and his surroundings. His 
paintings of the Indian and the buffalo have never 
been surpassed. He was one of the first to enter 
this distinctly American field of art. Wimar was 
a Western painter. He was reared and received 
his impressions in Missouri. His name and his 
work do honor to his state. 



GEORGE CALEB BINGHAM, 1811-1879 
The Missouri Artist 

A HUNDRED years ago the most important western 
town in Missouri was old Franklin in Howard 
county. It lay on the north bank of the Missouri 
River. In a few years it had over a thousand in- 
habitants and rivaled St. Louis. Some of Missouri's 
greatest lawyers settled there. It had a large trade 
with the pioneer settlers nearby and everything 
pointed to it becoming a large city. In ten years, 
however, the Missouri River changed its course and 
cut into the town. Today part of old Franklin lies 
in the center of the bed of the river. 

When Franklin was in its glory, a certain family 
of Virginians settled there in 1819. The father was 
poor and tried to make a living by raising tobacco 
and later by keeping a tavern. He had seven chil- 
dren, one a boy eight years old. This lad was 
remarkable. When only four years old he drew 
good pictures on his slate. Before he was eight 
years old he had covered the pump, fences and out- 
buildings of his old Virginia home with paintings of 
men and animals. Of course his pictures were 
crude, but good for a boy of his years. He was a 
born painter. His name was George Caleb Bingham, 
Missouri's first artist. 

Born in Virginia on March 20, 1811, George spent 
his first eight years on a large plantation in the 
''Old Dominion" State. His father was Scotch, his 
mother German. Both were well educated and 

(36) 



George Caleb Bingham, 1811-1879. 37 




GEORGE CALEB BINGHAM 
(From Fern Helen Rusk's "George Caleb Bingham: The Missouri 
Artist.") 



38 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

cultured. George's father lost nearly all of his 
property and decided to come to Missouri where 
land was cheap and fertile. Things did not go well 
in his new western home, and in 1823 he died, 
leaving a large family. George was then only 
twelve years old. 

Mrs. Bingham was a remarkable woman. She 
moved her family to a small farm she owned near 
Arrow Rock in Saline county, and taught school in 
her own home. She had a good library and George 
studied hard. He afterwards became a good speaker 
in public, all of which he owed to his mother's train- 
ing. 

Although George was a good pupil, he enjoyed 
painting much more. He could not buy good paints 
for his mother was too poor, so he made his own 
paints. He mixed axle grease, vegetable dyes, brick- 
dust and oil. 

His mother soon sent him to work and he was 
employed to make cigars. His spare hours he put 
in drawing and painting. 

In his sixteenth year his mother apprenticed him 
to a cabinet-maker in Boonville, in Cooper county. 
George soon became the best wood-carver in the shop. 
He was so artistic that all admired his work. He 
did not enjoy wood-work, however, and at odd 
hours painted on boards. He also studied law and 
religion in the evenings, and was undecided whether 
to become a lawyer or a preacher. Fortunately for 
Missouri, before he made up his mind, a traveller 
came to Boonville who changed young Bingham's 
career. 



George Caleb Bingham, 1811-1879. 39 

This stranger was the celebrated artist, Chester 
Harding. Bingham had met Harding in Franklin 
seven years before. This time he showed Harding 
his pictures, painted on boards, and the great artist 
was interested in the young boy. He gave Bingham 
lessons in painting and advised him to go to St. 
Louis some day and study art. Harding's encourage- 
ment made Bingham decide to become an artist. 

Three years later, at the age of nineteen, he set 
out on foot for St. Louis, one hundred and fifty 
miles away. He had no money_ and all his personal 
belongings were in a bundle strapped to his shoulders. 
He became ill with the measles. In a deserted old 
log cabin he lay for weeks, attended by a kind 
young doctor and an old negress. The negress was 
afraid to go near him and pushed his food and 
drink to him through the door. He was finally 
cured but lost all his hair, and was bald the rest 
of his life. 

He went home and set up a studio in Franklin. 
Here he painted portraits of different persons in 
the town. Although he used common house paints 
and had only some stumps of brushes, he painted 
remarkably good portraits. 

He worked fast, often putting out a portrait in a 
day. He visited other towns close by and had much 
work. In Columbia he painted a number of portraits 
and made many friends. Among these was Major 
James S. Rollins, a noted lawyer and a man of 
wealth. 

Major Rollins took a great interest in Bingham and 
loaned him one hundred dollars to go to St. Louis 
and study art. 



40 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 




George Caleb Bingham, 1811-1879. 41 

Bingham went to St. Louis and studied hard. He 
was very poor and slept, rolled up in a blanket, in 
an unfinished attic. His friends in St. Louis were 
always of the better class, cultured and educated. 

After finishing his studies in art in St. Louis, he 
returned to Boonville, where he married. With his 
own hands he built a brick house in Arrow Rock for 
his wife, and then visited a number of towns in 
Central Missouri, painting portraits. 

He painted so many portraits of Missourians that 
someone said: 

''Almost every family had its Bingham portraits." 

He spent several years in the East, especially in 
Philadelphia, and studied art in the Pennsylvania 
Academy of Fine Arts. Here he met America's 
greatest artists. All this did much to help him. 
His pictures became better and his paintings were 
more accurate and artistic. 

In 1840 Bingham returned to Missouri and became 
interested in politics. He was a good speaker and 
attended political meetings. At these gatherings he 
observed closely the way the men dressed, talked, 
and acted. He later used these impressions for 
pictures. 

After spending four years in Washington, D. C, 
where he painted portraits of the leading American 
statesmen, he returned to his home in Saline county 
and was elected to the Missouri Legislature. His 
election was contested and he lost. Two years later 
he was elected again and kept his place. While in 
the Legislature he was able and honest. 

Bingham now began painting pictures of Missouri 
life as well as portraits. He painted election 



42 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 




George Caleb Bingham, 1811-1879. 43 

scenes, where the voters came to give their votes. 
He called one of those pictures, ''County Election;" 
another, ''Verdict of the People." He painted other 
political pictures, as, "Canvassing for a Vote," and 
"Stump Speaking." Another picture was a "Puzzled 
Witness" — a court room painting. 

In all these paintings, the persons represented the 
typical Missourians of that day. They were true to 
life. He painted Missourians as they actually were. 
This is why Bingham has been called "The Missouri 
Artist." 

He also painted scenes on the Missouri and 
Mississippi rivers. One of these was the "Jolly 
Flatboatmen." In all his pictures of groups or of 
crowds of men, Bingham always painted a dog some- 
where in the picture. The only exception was the 
"Jolly Flatboatmen." He was asked why he had left 
out the dog in this picture. He replied : 

"I have not, the dog is in the hold." (i. e., beneath 
the deck out of sight.) 

He made several trips East to New York and other 
cities where he set up his studio and painted. For 
two years he studied in Germany. He was absent 
minded, and one day, while in Germany, he put on 
his coat wrong-side-out. The coat had a Scotch 
plaid lining and when Bingham walked down the 
street, a crowd of German children followed him. 
He didn't know what was wrong until his wife met 
him at the door and pointed to his coat. 

Bingham lived in several Missouri towns. Besides 
Franklin, Arrow Rock and Boonville, he resided in 
Jefferson City, St. Louis, Independence and Kansas 
City. While living in Columbia, the waitress one 



44 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 




George Caleb Bingham, 1811-1879. 45 

day caught her sleeve in Bingham's wig and carried 
it half way down the table before she noticed it. All 
were embarrassed until Bingham wittily remarked: 

*'I was not able to keep my oivn hair on my head; 
how could I hope to keep the artificial?" 

When the Civil War broke out, Bingham enlisted 
and was elected a captain in the Union army. 

In 1862, General Thomas Ewing of the Union 
army issued ''Order Number 11," which commanded 
the people in several western Missouri counties to 
leave their homes within a certain time. In these 
counties a number of robberies and murders had 
taken place, and General Ewing said they were caused 
by men who were sheltered by the inhabitants. 
''Order Number 11" meant great loss of property to 
all, and Bingham protested to General Ewing. The 
Union general refused to revoke the order, and 
Bingham resolved to paint a picture of the effects 
of the order. This was his famous painting, "Order 
No. 11 or Martial Law." He painted this on a table- 
cloth and it was one of his most famous works. The 
man on horseback in the center of the picture is 
General Ewing. The old man is the owner of the 
home being destroyed by Union soldiers. The crowds 
in the background are fleeing from their homes. 

Another famous painting is the "Emigration of 
Daniel Boone." This shows Boone coming over the 
mountains into Kentucky. 

Bingham's first wife died in 1848. He married 
twice afterwards. 

He held several public offices besides serving in 
the Legislature and being State Treasurer. In 1874 



46 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 







George Caleb Bingham, 1811-1879. 47 

he was appointed on Kansas City's first Board of 
Police Commissioners and in 1875 was appointed 
Adjutant General of Missouri. 

He served as professor of art in the University 
of Missouri in 1877 and delivered lectures on art. 

He died in Kansas City on July 7, 1879, and was 
buried there. 

Bingham was not a great artist compared to the 
celebrated painters of the world, but he did have 
genius. He tried to do too much, both in painting and 
in living. He was a public official as well as an 
artist, and this took much of his time. As a 
painter he made his livelihood. He painted scores 
of portraits, but his pictures would have been better 
had he painted fewer. However, Bingham's name 
and his art will always live. He was the first to 
portray the picturesque scenes of a western election, 
a court room, a steamboat deck, and other similar 
representations of western life. For this alone he 
will not be forgotten. Besides, Bingham was a man 
of ability. He was also honest and detested injustice. 
He was deeply loved by his friends, and hated by his 
enemies. He did much to aid his state as well as 
encourage the study of art in Missouri. 



48 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 




MERIWETHER LEWIS, 1774-1809, 
WILLIAM CLARK 1770-1838 

Explorers of the Leiuis and Clark Expedition, 180U- 

1806 

WHEN people talk of exploration today, they 
usually mention the North and South Poles, 
Central Africa, the Amazon River, or perhaps Thibet. 
The United States is not thought of. Even elemen- 
tary school geographies show the boundaries of every 
state, the source of each river, the mountain ranges, 
and the location of thousands of towns. Today this 
country is fairly well known from ocean to ocean 
by every school-boy and girl. A little more than a 
hundred years ago, however, no white man could 
have accurately told where the Missouri River began, 
how long it was, how wide or how high the Rocky 
Mountains were, or how far it was from these 
mountains to the Pacific Ocean. In fact, nearly all 
the country between the Mississippi River and the 
Pacific Ocean was an unknown land except to a few 
traders and trappers, and the Indians. None of 
them had more than a vague idea of its extent and 
their information was generally untrustworthy. 

For years President Thomas Jefferson had desired 
to have this great western country explored. Altho 
it did not belong to the United States at that time. 
President Jefferson was interested in it. In 1803 
Congress approved the plan and the same year 
France sold this western land to this nation. Pres- 
ident Jefferson wanted to send an exploring party 
up the Missouri River, across the mountains, and to 

(49) 



50 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

the Pacific Ocean. The main problem was to select 
the right man to lead such an expedition. The 
success of the undertaking depended on its leader. 
Such a leader must be educated, brave, resourceful, 
and a careful observer. President Jefferson regarded 
his private secretary as such a man. He according- 
ly appointed Captain Meriwether Lewis. Captain 
Lewis selected as his companion, who should also be 
equal in command, his friend. Captain William Clark. 
Their expedition is known in history as the ''Lewis 
and Clark Expedition" — the greatest of its kind in 
this country. 

Meriweather Lewis was born in Virginia on August 
18, 1774. He came of a distinguished family. His 
father having died early, the boy was reared by his 
mother. As a child he was active, brave and 
studious. When only eight years old he would go 
alone to the woods at night and hunt opossums and 
raccoons. He received a good education. At the age 
of eighteen he returned to his mother's farm. Here 
he not only worked hard, but he carefully observed 
and studied the different plants and wild animals of 
his state. When he was twenty years old he volun- 
teered in the militia and at twenty-three was a 
captain. He was later appointed private secretary 
to President Jefferson, which position he held for 
two years. President Jefferson carefully watched the 
young man and saw how resourceful and industrious 
he was. Young Lewis completely won the respect of 
the great man and his reward was the leadership of 
the western exploring party. Before assuming com- 
mand Captain Lewis went to Philadelphia to learn 
more about the scientific names of plants and animals, 



Lewis, 1774-1809— Clark, 1770-1838. 51 

astronomy and civil engineering, and other things 
that might be useful to him in the west. 

On account of the dangers of the trip thru tribes 
of hostile Indians and over unknown rivers and 
mountains, Captain Lewis desired to select some one 
who could command the expedition if anything 
happened to him. He thought at once of his friend, 
Capt.William Clark, 
a man of experience 
and power. Captain 
Clark accepted the 
invitation. Altho 
Lewis was the offi- 
cial head of the ex- 
pedition, he gave 
Clark equal author- 
ity. In fact the ex- 
pedition is always 
called the Lewis and 
Clark Expedition. 

Captain William 
Clark was born in 
Virginia on Angust MERm^ETHER lewis 

1 1770 TTo ak'nCFrom Walter B. Stevens' "Missouri; The 

1, 1 M U. Xie aiSO center State.") 

came of a good 

Virginia family and was born not far from the birth- 
place of Lewis. He was the ninth child in a family of 
ten. One of his brothers was the celebrated George 
Rogers Clark, who led the American soldiers into 
Illinois and Indiana during the Revolutionary War. At 
the age of fourteen, the family moved to Kentucky 
where young Clark was reared. He received little educa- 




52 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 



tion in books, but had a wide experience with frontier 
life. At the age of eighteen years he entered the 

regular army and 
in two years was 
a captain in the 
militia. He was 
forced to resign 
in 1796 on account 
of ill health. Be- 
fore resigning he 
met Lewis, who 
was a private un- 
der him. The 
closest friendship 
developed between 
these two men, 
which lasted un- 
til their death. 
On receiving Cap- 
tain Lewis' invita- 
tion to share the 
comjnand of the 
western expedi- 
tion, he left his 
farm in Kentucky 
and joined his 
at Louis- 




WILLIAM CLARK 



(From Walter B. Stevens' "Missouri; The -fv^ion.-l 
Center State.") menu 

ville. 
Captain Lewis received from President Jefferson 
detailed instructions regarding the expedition on 
July 30, 1803. He and Clark were to go four thou- 
sand miles over a country that no white man had 
explored. They were to leave St. Louis and follow 



Lewis, 1774-1809— Clark, 1770-1838. 53 

the Missouri River to the mountains. They were to 
cross the mountains and go down the Columbia 
River to the Pacific Ocean. On arriving at the 
coast they were told to return either by land or 
ship. A map was given them as a guide but it was 
of no help. This map showed that the Missouri 
River rose in central California. And it failed to 
show any mountains! 

They were told to take the latitude and longitude 
each day. They were to keep a journal of their 
trip. In it were to be described the Indian tribes 
they met, their numbers and names, the land they 
held, their relations with other tribes, their language, 
customs, occupations, religions, food, clothing, 
diseases, and many other things. These two young 
men were also to make maps of the country, show- 
ing rivers, mountains, and altitude of the land. They 
were to describe the animals and plants of the 
country. In fact, they were to observe and study 
everything they met on their journey. 

Lewis left Washington, D. C, in July, 1803. 
Clark joined him at Louisville. The two went to 
St. Louis where they made preparations for the 
journey that winter. On May 14, 1804, they left St. 
Louis. There were forty-five persons in all— soldiers, 
hunters, boatment, workmen, an interpreter, and a 
negro servant of Clark's. They had one boat fifty- 
five feet long with twenty-two oars and a big square 
sail, and several open boats. The horses were led 
along the banks of the river. The ascent of the 
Missouri River began without an accident. 

On June 26th, the expedition reached the mouth 
of the Kansas River, where they camped several 



54 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

days. It had taken them forty-three days to cross 
what is today the State of Missouri. On July 26th, 
they reached the mouth of the Platte River, six 
hundred miles above St. Louis. Along the trip they 
held conferences with the Indians, making treaties 
of peace, distributing a few presents, and buying 
supplies. On August 19th, one of the party, Sergeant 
Floyd, died. This was the only death. There was 
also one desertion. By the last of October, the 
expedition had traveled sixteen hundred miles from 
St. Louis. A fort was built on November 20th, 
which was called Fort Mandan, from the Mandan 
Indians. Here the party encamped all winter. 

Among the Mandan Indians was a squaw named, 
"Sacajawea," meaning the "Bird Woman.*' When 
a child among her people — the Snake Indians — she 
had been captured. She married a Frenchman, 
named Chaboneau, and they had one son. On learn- 
ing that Lewis and Clark were going farther west 
to where the Snake Indians lived, the ''Bird Woman" 
and her Husband decided to go along. She was 
later to be of the greatest help to Lewis and Clark. 

On April 7, 1805, the expedition left Fort Mandan, 
having sent fourteen men back to St. Louis. On 
April 26th, they reached the mouth of the Yellow- 
stone River, one thousand eight hundred and eighty- 
eight miles above St. Louis. They were now near 
the country of the grizzly bear. On May 26th, they 
first saw the Rocky Mountains, and on June 13th, the 
Great Falls of the Missouri. At the latter place, 
Captain Lewis had an experience that shows some of 
the dangers of the trip from the wild animals alone. 



Lewis, 1774-1809— Clark, 1770-1838. 55 

One day Captain Lewis left the main party and 
went on ahead. On returning he forgot to load his 
gun and met a large grizzly bear. Being unable to 
escape, he was forced to enter the river. He stood 
in the water, facing the bear on the bank, resolved 
to fight with his knife if the animal followed. After 
a few minutes the bear slowly walked away, much 
to the young man's relief. Proceeding until night- 
fall, he met a wolverine, which showed fight. A 
little later three buffalo attacked him but he escaped. 
The next morning on awakening, he saw a large 
rattlesnake coiled by the trunk of a tree under 
which he had slept! 

From now the journey became more difficult. 
After a hard day's work in rowing the boats or 
traveling by land, the men would gather around 
the camp fire and dance to the music of an old 
violin that one of the party had brought. Most of 
the time, however, they were too tired to do any- 
thing. 

On July 25, 1805, they reached the three forks 
of the Missouri River, which were named by Captain 
Clark the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin. Food 
was getting scarcer every day. They were now in 
the high mountain country and glad to obtain a 
wolf, eagle or even an owl for meat. The men were 
slowly starving. On August 12th, they came to the 
source of the Missouri River and on the sam.e day 
reached the source of the streams that flowed into 
the Columbia River. They were on the crest of the 
Continental Divide which separates the waters that 
flow into the Gulf of Mexico from those that flow into 
the Pacific. 



56 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

The men had already killed their horses for meat 
and for several days were without food. When the 
men had given up hope of life, the expedition arrived 
in the country of the ''Bird Woman." Her brother 
was chief of the Indians there and was glad to see 
her again. The travellers were well fed and rested 
here several days. The Indians sold them new 
horses and they left for the coast in September. 
Their journey was day after day of hardships, 
starvation, cold, and weariness. For weeks their 
only food was some dried berries and powdered fish. 
They were again forced to kill their horses. Meet- 
ing another tribe of Indians they bought some dogs, 
which they ate. These Indians called them, "Dog 
Eaters." Finally on November 6, 1805, they sighted 
the Pacific Ocean. They built a fort and spent the 
winter on the coast. No ship passed and on March 
23, 1806, they started on their return trip. After 
equal hardship, they reached St. Louis on September 
23, 1806. 

No word had been received from Lewis and Clark 
for nearly two years. They had been given up as 
lost. On arriving in St. Louis they were greeted 
everywhere with highest honors. Congress passed 
a law giving each man double pay for his service 
and three hundred acres of land. To Captain 
Lewis was granted fifteen hundred acres and to 
Captain Clark, one thousand acres. Captain Lewis 
protested against this, for he thought they should 
have received equal amounts. 

The expedition was a success. It had discovered 
a new land and through its journals had mapped 
and described this land. It had traversed four 



Lewis, 1774-1809— Clark, 1770-1838. 57 

thousand miles of an unknown country and had 
returned — making a journey of eight thousand miles! 
It had discovered new rivers, mountains and 
mountain passes. It show^ed the vastness of the 
great Northwest where today are the states of the 
Dakotas, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. 
All of these the expedition had accomplished and 
had preserved in a clearly written journal. No in- 
land expedition in this country has done so much 
considering the equipment, difficulties and the times. 

On March 3, 1807, President Jefferson appointed 
Captain Lewis Governor of Louisiana Territory (Up- 
er Louisiana) with headquarters at St. Louis. He 
held this office two years. He died on October 11, 
1809, in Tennessee, while on a trip to Washington. 
The cause of his death has never been definitely 
known. Some said he killed himself, others that he 
was robbed and murdered. His early death at the age 
of thirty-five years was lamented by his hundreds of 
friends. 

On March 12, 1807, Captain Clark was appointed 
brigadier-general of the territorial militia in Louisi- 
ana Territory and also Indian agent. As Indian 
agent he had charge of making peace and war with 
the Indians. He was fearless but because he was 
also a man of his word, the Indians loved and res- 
pected him. They called him "Red Head," because 
of the color of his hair. "Red Head" was always 
welcomed by the Indians, who knew that he was just 
and fair. 

After the death of Captain Lewis, the completion 
of the journals of Lewis and Clark Expedition was J 
left in Captain Clark's hands. In 1813, Captain Clark 



58 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

was appointed Governor of Missouri Territory by 
President Madison. He served until Missouri became 
a state in 1820. In 1822 President Monroe appointed 
him Superintendent of Indian Affairs, a position he 
held for sixteen years. He died at the home of his 
eldest son, Meriwether Lewis Clark, in St. Louis on 
September 1, 1838. 



JAMES B. EADS, 1820-1887 
Missouri's Greatest Engineer and Inventor 

A HUNDRED years ago on the streets of St. Louis, 
a small sickly looking boy of thirteen was selling 
newspapers. No one paid special attention to him. 
People bought their papers from the frail lad and 
then passed by. 

His parents were poor and he was helping his fa- 
ther make a living for his mother and his two sis- 
ters. Altho he had gone to school only three years, 
the poor newsboy wanted an education. He determin- 
ed to educate himself. He read books at home in the 
evening. His father and mother were educated and 
encouraged him. 

When he was fourteen, he clerked in a store. The 
storekeeper had a large library from whom he bor- 
rowed many books. He read about inventions; steam- 
engines and steamboats; building bridges and dig- 
ging canals; and all kinds of mechanical work. He 
would go down to the shore of the Mississippi River 
and for hours look at the machinery on the steam- 
boats. He visited the sawmills. He watched men us- 
ing big derricks to lift the heavy logs. These were 
the things he liked. 

His father saw how interested his son was in 
machinery, and encouraged him. He let him use the 
basement for a workshop. Here the boy constructed 
small engines, sawmills and other things. He made 
these so well that they looked like real ones. One 
day he decided to make a steamboat that would sail. 

(59) 



60 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 




James B. Eads, 1820-1887. 61 

He built one six feet long and made a little engine 
out of old pieces of iron. After it was finished, he took 
it down to a pond, started the engine, and sure enough 
the boat sailed. It went around the pond and was a 
success. 

The boy who did this was then only fifteen years 
old and had been to school only three years. His 
name was James B. Eads. He became Missouri's 
greatest engineer and inventor, and one of the most 
famous in America. 

His parents were from old Virginia. His father 
was a Welchman. At one time they were wealthy 
but later lost all they had. They moved to Indiana 
where young Eads was born on March 23, 1820. 
Thirteen years later they came by boat to St. Louis. 
Before reaching their new home in Missouri, their 
steamboat was burned. They lost all their household 
goods and barely saved their lives. On the very spot 
where young Eads landed at St. Louis, he began 
building his famous bridge across the Mississippi 
River thirty-four years later. 

Besides selling newspapers and clerking in a store, 
the lad did odd jobs. He worked hard in the daytime 
and read books in the night. He had a genius for 
engineering. He was a natural inventor. 

Besides reading books on machinery and surveying, 
he studied arithmetic. His ambition was to be an 
engineer and he was determined to educate himself, 
since he could not go to college. He borrowed books 
and read them carefully. With his spare money he 
bought books. In a few years he had made great 
progress. 



62 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

After clerking in a store, he became a clerk on a 
Mississippi River steamboat. The great river with its 
mass of water, its snags and sand-bars, its windings 
and curves, had always fascinated him. He observed 
everything about it with the closest and keenest at- 
tention. He watched it cut into the soft earth banks 
and make a new channel here and there. He saw 
it rage during high waters and flood the rich lands 
for miles. He saw how powerful it was, how good it 
was to man in carrying on its waves the hundreds 
of steamboats between St. Louis and New Orleans, 
and how destructive it could be when not confined in 
its channel. He learned its whims and fancies, but 
saw that it really obeyed certain laws of nature. 
This knowledge that young Eads obtained, was to be 
of the greatest aid to him in later years. 

When only twenty-two years old, Eads invented a 
diving-bell to recover cargoes of sunken steamers in 
the river. Altho he was small, seemed frail and weak, 
he had great endurance. He frequently went down in 
the diving-bell when other men were afraid. In a 
few years he made much money, which he carefully 
saved. 

With this money he built a glass factory, the first 
in the Mississippi Valley. Unfortunately this was a 
failure. He lost all his money and was in debt 
$25,000. He borrowed $1,500 and went back to 
his old work of recovering sunken cargoes. 

He then invented a large boat for pumping the 
sand and water out of sunken ships, after which the 
ship and cargo could be raised to the top. He soon 
paid off his debts and made over a half million dol- 
lars for himself. 



James B. Eads, 1820-1887. 63 

His health failed and for several years Eads was 
an invalid. He was now being recognized as a re- 
markable engineer. 

On recovering, he proposed to the United States 
Government to remove the snags from the Mississippi, 
Missouri, Ohio, and Arkansas rivers. In these rivers 
were thousands of rocks and stumps of trees just 
below the surface of the water. These snags were 
objects of terror to steamboat pilots. Hundreds of 
boats were sunk by striking these snags which made 
great holes in the bottom of the boat. Thousands 
of dollars and scores of lives were lost. Eads wanted 
to remove these dangerous obstacles. The United 
States Government, however, refused to take up this 
great work. 

When the Civil War opened, President Lincoln 
telegraphed Eads to come at once to Washington. The 
Confederacy of the South controlled the Mississippi 
and Tennessee rivers. They had forts on these rivers 
that prevented the Union troops from being trans- 
ported on them. The only way to open these rivers 
to the Union was to build armored boats with which 
to capture the Confederate forts. But where get such 
boats? President Lincoln asked Eads to build them. 
He wanted eight fast boats, fully equipped in one 
hundred days! 

Few thought this was possible. Such a thing had 
never been done in so short a time. Eads said he 
could and would do it. And he did. In forty-five 
days he finished the first *'iron-clad" or armored 
boat. Ten days later six more were completed, and be- 
fore the one hundred days had passed the eight iron- 
clads were on the river at St. Louis. It was these boat? 



64 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

that enabled the capture of Forts Donelson and 
Henry, and Island No. 10. 

During the war, Eads built fourteen heavily ar- 
mored boats, remade seven ordinary boats into gun- 
boats, and constructed four mortar boats. This fleet 
of iron-clads opened the Mississippi River to the 
Union soldiers, and helped Farragut win his victory 
in Mobile Bay. 

In 1867, James B. Eads began one of his greatest 
pieces of work. This was the construction of the 
world famous Eads Bridge across the Mississippi 
River at St. Louis. This steel arch bridge, in some 
ways the greatest in the world up to that time, was 
completed in 1874. It stands today a lasting monu- 
ment to its maker. So permanent is it that even 
wear and weather cannot destroy it if properly taken 
care of. 

Eads Bridge rests on solid rock piers. The foun- 
dation of one of these piers is one hundred and thirty 
six feet below high water. To dig this, the workmen 
cut through ninety feet of sand and rock. The 
Bridge has three spans. The central one is five hun- 
dred and twenty feet long; the two side-spans are 
each five hundred and two feet long. Twenty-eight 
leading engineers said at the time that such long 
spans could not be built. Eads said they could, and 
he built them. These spans stretch over the river 
fifty feet above its waters. All steamboats can pass 
under the bridge without trouble. 

In constructing the bridge, Eads met hundreds of 
problems. His mind solved them all. He invented 
new machines to raise and place the tons of iron. He 
invented a sand-pump to help excavate. Some of his 



James B. Eads, 1820-1887. 65 

plans and inventions were used in building the fa- 
mous Brooklyn Bridge. 

Greater bridges have been built since Eads built 
the one that bears his name. At that time, however, 
it was perhaps the greatest bridge in the world. 

Eads' next great work was deepening and widening 
the mouth of the Mississippi River. Below the Mis- 
souri River, the water of the Mississippi River is full 
of fine particles of dirt and sand, which gives it a 
muddy color. At the mouths of the river much of 
this dirt and sand had been deposited for years until 
the channel was becoming too narrow and shallow for 
ships to pass thru. Sand-bars formed and were 
a menace to commerce. The United States Govern- 
ment investigated and, after considerable opposition 
from the army civil engineers, agreed to let Eads 
remove these sand-bars, deepen and widen the chan- 
nel. 

This was a great undertaking. Eads' enemies said 
that new sand-bars would form as soon as the old 
ones were removed. This did not discourage Eads 
for he had a new plan that he felt certain would be 
a success. Eads proposed to make the river do the 
Work of carrying away the old sand-bars and of deep- 
ening and widening its own channel. He was simply 
going to harness the river like a man harnessed a 
team of horses. Instead of using leather straps and 
buckles, he intended to use willow-mattresses, stones 
and concrete. 

Eads knew the habits of the river like a farmer 
knows his horse. He knew how to make it remove 
a sand-bar by narrowing or changing its channel, 
and how to make it form a sand-bar by obstructing 



66 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

its channel. He employed hundreds of men to cut 
down willows and weave them into thousands of big 
willow-mattresses. He sunk these willow-mats or 
mattresses in the river where he desired. Some 
times he built a new bank out of them and the river 
formed sand-bars around them and made these new 
banks solid. Again he sunk them near a bank to 
protect it from being carried away by the river. 
Always he made the river do the big work. Of 
course, Eads had plenty to do in harnessing the 
river, for it was worse than a balky horse, a million 
times stronger, and was never worn out. Finally, 
however, after working several years he accomplished 
his object. He also built jetties of concrete out into 
the Gulf of Mexico to protect his jetties of willow mat- 
work from the action of the ocean. This work is 
known over the world as the Mississippi jetties. It 
made Eads even more famous than he had been before. 

Eads now wanted to deepen the channel of the 
Mississippi River from the mouth of the Ohio to the 
Gulf. The United States Government at first favored 
this but the work was finally abandoned. This was 
a great disappointment to Eads who desired to im- 
prove the entire Mississippi Valley. If he had been 
employed, there is little doubt but that he would have 
succeeded. 

Eads was now in demand over the world. He was 
called from seaport to seaport to advise in regard 
to protecting and deepening harbors. He went to 
England, Mexico, Canada, Florida, California, and 
Texas. For his advice he was highly paid. His sug- 
gestions were followed and proved successful. 



James B. Eads, 1820-1887. 67 

He traveled widely. He visited most of the 
countries of Europe and examined the river and har- 
bor work of all the important cities. What he learned, 
he never forgot. All this he applied and improved 
upon. He was now recognized as the leading civil 
engineer in America. 

In 1884 the famous ''Albert Medal" of England 
was given him by the ''Society for the Encourage- 
ment of Art, Manufacture and Commerce." He was 
the first American to obtain this medal. In 1877 he 
had received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the 
University of Missouri. This shows he was apprecia- 
ted both at home and abroad. 

His health, which had always been poor, now began 
to fail him. This did not stop his work. He fre- 
quently worked all night on some problem. He now 
conceived the plan of building his third great work. 
This was a railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuante- 
pec for carrying ships from one ocean to the other. 
He thought such a railroad could be built more quickly 
than a canal and could be kept in repairs cheaper. 
Today we have the Panama Canal, owned by the 
United States Government. 

Eads worked hard to get his plan approved by the 
United States Government. The Mexican Govern- 
ment was in favor of it. Everything pointed to his 
beginning this work as soon as the United States 
Government endorsed it. A company of bankers was 
formed to furnish the money in 1887. Eads took 
sick, and in a few days died on March 8, 1887. 

James B. Eads was one of the most remarkable 
men this state has produced. Without any schooling 
except three years in the elementary branches, with- 



68 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

out a college education, Eads succeeded in making 
himself one of the leaders in a line of work that usu- 
ally requires many years of training in a university. 
In this respect James B. Eads stands almost alone 
in American history. He was a self-educated man. 
Others have succeeded in other professions without 
a college education, but few in engineering. 

James B. Eads was more than a great engineer, 
he was a genius as an inventor. During his short 
life, he invented over fifty important machines and 
devices. Some of these are still used today. 

He was a master of details. Before trying to do 
anything he informed himself of all sides of a prob- 
lem. He was a slow writer and his plans for bridges 
and harbor deepening were carefully put down. He 
went over his written plans many times and checked 
his figures to find errors. After he approved a plan, 
he had great faith in it. He was never discouraged, 
in the face of either problems or bad health. 

In manner he was cordial and pleasant. He never 
showed haste. He was never self-conscious or egotisti- 
cal. No matter how hard worked he was, Eads never 
passed a friend without stopping to shake hands. He 
sympathized with the failures and griefs of his friends 
and was generous to a fault. He was truly a great man 
as well as a great scientist and inventor. He did 
much for man. When he built the Eads Bridge he 
made travel easy, quick and cheap across a mighty 
river. When he erected his jetties at the mouth of 
the Mississippi River he made a path for the ships 
of the world to bring their cargoes direct from the 
ocean to New Orleans and beyond, without unloading. 



James B. Eads, 1820-1887. 69 

The man who cheapens travel and makes it safer; 
who cheapens freight and makes commerce safer; 
who makes water for a city cleaner and more whole- 
some ; or who cheapens gas, electricity, heat, clothing 
and food — such a man is just as truly great as a 
statesman, orator, or soldier, James B. Eads was 
such a man. 



JOSEPH B. McCULLAGH, 1842-1896. 

By Walter B. Stevens 

^HAT little Irish boy," he was to the Methodists of 
•^ St. Louis who worshiped at Broadway and 
Pine streets about the middle of the fifties. He had 
come from Dublin to this country, — ''before the 
mast." His school days had ended when he was eight 
years old, and his education had been continued as a 
cabin boy. At eleven he became an apprentice, — a 
''printers' devil", — on the Freeman's Journal in New 
York City. Five years later he came to St. Louis and 
set type for Rev. Dr. Mc Anally on the Christian Advo- 
cate which was published on Pine street, back of the 
church. It was unusual to see a printer boy of six- 
teen not only regular in attendance at the Sunday 
school but studious as well. When "that little Irish 
boy" began the study of shorthand in order to be able 
to "report sermons", the Methodists took notice. They 
said he "would make his mark." Professor William 
T. Harris, the public school teacher, afterwards of 
more than national fame as an educator, opened a 
school, as a side line, to give instruction in stenogra- 
phy. Many years later, when he was at the head of 
the Bureau of Education at Washington, he recalled 
"that little Irish boy" as the pupil who became more 
apt than the teacher at making intelligible "pigeon 
tracks." 

The Methodist young men took the printer boy into 
their church literary society. The Rev. Mr. Babcock, 
who had charge of what is now the public library of 

(70) 



Joseph B. McCullagh, 1842-1896. 71 

St. Louis, made the boy a member of his family and 
fed an omnivorous appetite for books. One day the 
foreman of the Missouri Democrat wanted a proof- 
reader. Mr. Babcock told of the Irish boy. The 
foreman gave the boy a galley to try him out. "After 
looking over that proof," said the foreman, ''I con- 
cluded he knew more about proofreading than I did." 

The sole reporter on the Democrat went away on 
vacation. The boy proofreader was called down 
stairs to "sub" for the reporter. And thus Joseph B. 
McCullagh broke into daily journalism. His first day 
on the street he filled the column and a half which 
was the space alloted to local news. The next day 
he brought in two columns and the third day his copy 
was set in smaller type to get it into the paper. 

There were stormy times at Jefferson City the 
winter of 1859-60. The Missouri Legislature was 
rent in factions on the issue of Secession. The young 
reporter was sent up to do the correspondence. He 
wrote so vividly of those turbulent scenes that he was 
in danger. The owners of the paper were advised to 
recall him, and it is another tradition that he did not 
take the train at the capital but walked to the next 
station east. 

The presidential campaign of 1860 gave the oppor- 
tunity for the acquired facility with shorthand. The 
young reporter made such good use of it that he at- 
tracted the attention of the political orators and was 
recommended to other papers. There came from Cin- 
cinnati the offer of something better than the thirteen 
dollars a week which the St. Louis position paid. Then 
came the Civil war. Over the pen name of "Mack," 
the letters from the front were copied far and wide. 



72 MISSOURI'S Hall of Fame. 

"That little Irish boy'' was in the thick of the fight at 
Fort Donelson. He floated past the Confederate bat- 
teries at Vicksburg. He risked his life again and again 
to get the war news. 

The last half of the sixties was passed in Washing- 
ton. Then interviewing was invented. A president 
in the White House spoke repeatedly to the country 
through the correspondence of "Mack". He said no- 
body read his messages to Congress, but everybody 
read the interviews. 

In 1871, after a brief experience in Chicago, where 
the great fire destroyed the paper which his friends 
and he had started, Joseph B. McCullagh was back in 
St. Louis, on the paper where his journalistic career 
began. For twenty-five years, almost to the month, 
he gave his life to the creation of a great newspaper. 
"Creation" is the word, for the beginning was some- 
what worse than nothing. After a brief struggle to 
determine the survival of the fittest, the Globe and the 
Democrat were consolidated with a debt of $200,000. 
Mr. McCullagh was given the editorial management 
on a contract, as he said, "to stay as long as the cir- 
culation keeps up." 

From 1870 to 1880 was a decade of journalistic 
strenuosity. St. Louis had eight morning newspapers, 
four English, four German. Mr. McCullagh entered 
joyously upon his contract "to keep the circulation 
up." In three years the Globe-Democrat paid off the 
debt, a large one for that day, and accumulated a 
bank balance of $90,000, with which to enter upon a 
course of expenditure for news which broke all pre- 
cedents. Not only did the circulation "keep up" but it 
increased to such a degree that the Globe-Democrat 



.TOSEPII R. McCuLLACii. 1812-lSOG. 73 

became ''ihc only paper, in the city or country willing 
to keei) its press room open to the world while the 
edition is l)einj>- run oil', — Daily or Weekly." Soon 
thereafter the (Uobc-Dcniocrat l)eKan tlie publication 
of sworn statements of circulation with l're(iuent ban- 
ters to rival i)apers to show their figures. 

''He gave his life to the creation of a newspaper." 
'Po Mr. McCullaj»-li the Clohe-Deniocraf became home, 
family, recreation, as well as work. A clocklike routine 
governed the physical, to the neglect of the laws of 
health. Kut the mind worked at high pressure long 
hours to make the new^spa^)er great. In the lives of 
the eminently successful there is often warning as well 
as inspiration for the young. *'That little Irish boy" 
achieved his ambition. He lived to see the (ilobc-Dcni- 
ocrat a great newspaper but, with health shattered, 
the end came when he should have been in his prime. 

The new journalism of the (ilobc-Di'mocmt attracted 
country-wide connneid. One high newspaper authori- 
ty in the East said that ''whatever may be thought 
of the (Uohc-DcniocraCti peculiar tactics, politically, 
or otherwise, therG is no gainsaying the fact Ihat it is 
a lirstclass newspaper and p()i)ular with the masses." 
This verdict was accei)ted by Mr. Mc(Udlagh who re- 
l)lie(l: "A lirstclass news|)aper and popular with the 
masses" is the highest praise that can be given any 
journal, and as long as our contemi)oraries render 
this verdict in our favor they are welcome^ to their 
own estimate of all the rest. On these two hang all 
the law and the prolils." 

Mr. McCullagh had no creed, no chui-ch connecMon. 
But the Globe-Democrat never scolled or made light 
of the fundameidal truths of I'eligion. When Inger- 



74 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

soil came to St. Louis, his lectures were reported by 
the Globe-Democrat more fully than by any other 
paper. But the editorial page carried such antidotes 
as this : 

''An ex-priest of the Catholic church, after having 
been mobbed a week ago, was allowed by the presence 
of several companies of militia, to lecture in Toledo 
yesturday on why he left the Catholic church. In St. 
Louis Bob Ingersoll was allowed to tell why he left 
the Presbyterian church, and not only was he not 
disturbed, but he got $1,600 for telling it. We like 
the St. Louis plan best, although in a country where 
salvation is free it seems a little high to charge a 
dollar for reserved seats for damnation." 

Mr. McCullagh recognized ''eternal verities" in his 
Globe-Democrat policies. He caused the readers to 
talk and laugh with his paragraphs. He introduced 
no end of novelties which make people take notice 
and marvel. But he could be serious and scathing. 
He did not fail to strike the major key when occasion 
demanded. He called the Globe-Democrat "The Great 
Religious Daily", which was truthful as well as 
striking. As a matter of fact no other daily news- 
paper gave so much space to religious news and dis- 
cussion. "The Great Controversy" carried on for 
months in the columns of the Globe-Democrat is a 
chapter in the history of Missouri journalism which 
will live while the newspaper files endure. 

The editorial paragraph was a feature which Mr. 
McCullagh cultivated with much care. 

"How is it, Mr. McCullagh," one of the editorial 
writers asked, "that when I give you a long editorial 
you pass it along to the printers almost without read- 



Joseph B. McCullagh, 1842-1896. 75 

ing, while if it is something short, or a paragraph, 
you revise it with great care?" 

"Because," the chief replied, ''people read the short 
editorials, and they don't care a whoop for the long 
ones." 

Mr. McCullagh made no secret of his newspaper 
ideals. He repeatedly defined his ideas of what con- 
stituted a great newspaper, illustrating them after 
this manner. 

"A Cincinnati paper of last Thursday devoted two 
of its broad pages to the New Orleans prize fight 
of the day before and two more to a religious revival 
in that city, thinking it thereby gratified all classes 
of readers. But it did nothing of the kind. All 
classes of readers are not embraced in two classes — 
those who love prize fights and those who want the 
details of revival meetings. Between these two ex- 
tremes there are a dozen different classes who care 
nothing for prize fights and who are indifferent to 
revival meetings, and the newspaper that neglects the 
tastes and wishes of the people comprising these 
classes is false to its mission or printing current his- 
tory. The Globe-Democrat reports prize fights and 
reports them quite fully, but it does not fill its pages 
with them to the exclusion of other matters which 
interest the public quite as much, if not more. The 
best newspapers of the present day are the many 
sided newspapers in which current history is collected, 
condensed and presented so as to exclude nothing of 
real interest, and not allow any special class interest 
to monopolize its contents. A good newspaper is like 
the bill of fare at a metropolitan hotel, — nobody is ex- 
pected to call for or consume everything it contains. 



76 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

and yet it should contain something suitable to every 
taste. It is because the Globe-Democrat is conducted 
on this idea that it flourishes like a green bay tree, 
and that every year of its history finds it more pros- 
perous than the year before." 

The decade 1880-1890 brought an evolution in Mr. 
McCullagh's newspaper policies. Previous to that he 
had aimed to make the Globe-Democrat talked about 
and to win circulation. He had carried on a score of 
crusades. He had warred on the Missouri State Lot- 
tery, the gamblers, the New Years' custom of a grand 
drunk, and so on. He had originated "the Grant 
Boom" and had carried it so nearly to success that 
newspapers all over the country were amazed. The 
Globe-Democrat was showing annual dividends with- 
out precedent in western journalism. Now came a 
new era in the upbuilding of a great newspaper ac- 
cording to Mr McCullagh's ideals. The local per- 
sonal journalism was abandoned except at rare inter- 
vals. The editor was building for permanence. The 
Globe-Democrat became more metropolitan. New 
features, the influence of which would be felt beyond 
the borders of the city, and in the years to come, 
were planned with care. More frequently Mr. Mc- 
Cullagh gave out through the columns of the paper 
his theories of newspaper character and lasting suc- 
cess. Many times and in varying forms he declared 
that the best newspaper was that which most accurate- 
ly, most comprehensively, most attractively recorded 
current history. ''Current history!" That became a 
favorite expression with him. 

A general welfare clause found an important place 
in the Globe-Democrat' s policy. Mr. McCullagh car- 



Joseph B. McCullagh, 1842-1896. 77 

ried this above partisan consideration in politics, be- 
yond personal prejudices and above bigotry in creed. 
When the panic of 1893 came, with a Democratic 
President, Mr. McCullagh announced: 

'The Globe-Democrat declines to join the ignoble 
army of partisan pirates who are trying to make po- 
litical capital for the Republican party out of the 
present financial stringency because it occurs under a 
Democratic administration. We yield to none in our 
dislike of Democracy and Democratic Presidents, but 
just at present, if we had to choose between two suc- 
cessive Democratic presidents and one financial panic 
we would take the Democratic Presidents. We can 
all recover, in time and by fumigation, from a Demo- 
cratic President, but a financial crash would leave be- 
hind it much distress from which there would be no 
recovery. Let us all stand together as good citizens, 
and by hoping for the best do much to bring the best 
about. 

The Rev. Dr. William G. Eliot, founder and head 
of Washington University, probably espoused more 
movements for the moral and intellectual uplift of 
of St. Louis and Missouri than any other man in his 
two generations. He said : 

"Whenever the pinch comes, McCullagh is always 
found on the right side." 



WILLIAM R. NELSON, 1841-1915 

A Story of a Man, a Newspaper and a City. 

''T^HERE once lived a man in Kansas City, Mo., who 
^ labored for thirty-five years for the good of the 
people. He was not an orator, a politician, a preach- 
er, or an author; he never made an address in pub- 
lic; was seldom seen in public, and attended a theater 
only once; still he sent two daily messages to two 
hundred thousand families and weekly messages to 
three hundred and fifty thousand homes. His life 
influenced the building of a city and the making of 
laws for three states. He stood for industry, honesty 
and progress. He believed in the people and labored 
for their welfare. He was one of the great men of 
this state. His name was William R. Nelson, editor 
of The Kansas City Star. 

William Rockhill Nelson was born in Indiana on 
March 7, 1841. His ancestors for three generations 
had helped to lay the foundations of his nation. His 
grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary War 
and afterwards served as one of the first Congressmen 
from Indiana. He was a large farmer. Mr. Nelson 
often remarked that his grandfather was the first 
man in the world to plant a thousand acres of corn. 
His mother was of Quaker descent. 

Between the young lad and his father existed great 
confidence. When his pranks brought him into trou- 
ble, he always went first to his father who helped him 
through his difficulties. His father never believed 

(78) 



William R. Nelson, 1841-1915. 79 

in giving his son money unless he worked for it. He 
once asked for money to pay his way to a circus. 

''You should earn the money," his father said. 
**No person should have money that he has not earn- 
ed.^' 

Then with a twinkle in his eye, he added: 

''Your mother wants that wood carried in. Do 
that and I will pay you fifty cents." 

This he did and afterwards said that he enjoyed 
that circus all the more because he "worked his way 
in." 

As a boy he attended college but failed to realize 
his opportunities and left school early. He decided 
to become a lawyer and before he was twenty-one 
had been admitted to the bar. But not law alone 
appealed to him. He with a partner made a venture 
in raising cotton in Georgia. This proved a failure 
and he was ruined financially. Altho a young man 
with no brilliant prospects, Mr. Nelson was not wor- 
ried. He later spoke of the affair in these words: 

"Lack of self-confidence was never one of my fail- 
ings. I don't suppose I ever lost a minute's sleep 
over the affair. I knew I was going to win in the 
end." 

Leaving his cotton business, he returned to Indiana 
and built roads, bridges and buildings. He became 
a successful contractor. But only when he bought 
an interest in a Fort Wayne newspaper, did he real- 
ize he had found his calling. He was convinced, how- 
ever, that he needed a wider field than in this small 
Indiana town. He began looking for a new location. 
After visiting cities in the East and as far west as 
San Francisco, he decided to go to Kansas City. 



80 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

This was in 1880 when Kansas City had only 
sixty thousand inhabitants. *'It was a town of no 
pavement and only a few plank sidewalks. A few 
street cars bobbed along behind tired mules. Every- 
thing was yet to be done to make the town into a 
great and beautiful city." But to him, Kansas City 
was the best place in the world. He once said: 

"I never come back to Kansas City that I do not 
find the sun shining as it never shines in the places 
where I have been." 

He considered nothing too good for Kansas City. 
Thus believing he had found his life's work, to be 
done in a place he loved, he began the dedication of 
his life, when he, with his partner, Samuel E. Morss, 
founded The Star. 

The first issue, called The Kansas City Evening 
Star, appeared September 18, 1880. It was a paper 
of four small pages of six columns each. The paper 
was welcomed by Kansas City people, who kindly 
called it the ''Twilight Twinkler." The price was two 
cents while other newspapers sold for five cents. At 
that time the nickle was the smallest coin in general 
circulation in Kansas City and the newsboys had 
difficulty in making change. To relieve their trouble 
Mr. Nelson brought from the United States mint, 
a keg full of pennies. When in 1901 the paper grew 
to be two issues a day besides a Sunday edition, the 
price still remained ten cents a week, no more than 
when it was the small four page paper. In this way 
the editor felt that he was giving his readers some- 
thing better than the comic sheet, which was appear- 
ing in many city papers. Mr. Nelson regarded the 
comic section as vulgar and inartistic. For many 



William R. Nelson, 1841-1915. 81 

years he did not use illustrations because he thought 
newspapers could not do them well. Instead he used 
line drawings. He used no big headlines and no ex- 
aggerations. 

He wanted his paper to be always entertaining and 
always looked forward to with pleasure. He seldom 
wrote anything for the paper with his own hand but 
rarely a day passed that he did not outline some- 
thing to be written. He asked to be referred to as 
''editor" and not as ''editor and owner." As he 
became older he was convinced that the liquor busi- 
ness was one of the country's great evils. For this 
reason he refused to take liquor advertisements. 
This cut off a large source of income, but his only 
comment was: "I guess we are making money fast 
enough without them." 

Mr. Nelson established The Weekly Kansas City 
Star in 1890. It was an eight page paper for farm- 
ers. It was sold for only twenty-five cents a yean 
In twenty-five years its circulation reached three 
hundred and fifty thousand. It went to every state 
in the Union and to many foreign countries. 

As an editor, William R. Nelson occupies a unique 
position in journalism. He was not a writer. Even 
his own paper contained few sentences written by 
him. Still The Star was regarded by others as one 
of the six best newspapers in the United States! 
It expressed the ideals and thoughts of its editor. 
In fact The Star was William R. Nelson. He once 
said: ''The Star is my life." The paper and the man 
cannot be separated. They were one. 

The Star marks three important things in Ameri- 
can journalism. It was first to furnish seven papers 



82 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

a week for ten cents. It was first to furnish thirteen 
papers a week for ten cents. It was first to issue 
a complete farmers' weekly for twenty-five cents a 
year. 

"The Star," said Mr. Nelson, "must be a gentle- 
man. What the other fellow does doesn't interest me. 
We are running The Star for our readers, not for 
other newspapers." To make The Star a better paper 
was its editor's purpose. He used larger type so it 
could be more easily read. He copied from books and 
magazines, articles of interest and value. Art, 
science, literature, politics, news, religion, law, and 
scores of other fields of knowledge were set forth in 
the columns of Tlie Star. It was an educator as well 
as a newspaper. 

As an editor, William R. Nelson regarded *'the 
reporter with the nose for news" as the most valuable 
man on the paper. He thought that a good reporter 
with industry was a paper's great blessing. He 
always emphasized industry and once said: ''Often 
a good pair of legs makes a good reporter." He had 
great faith in a reporter's honesty. He said that he 
had often placed confidence in new reporters and had 
seldom been deceived. He was a reporter's friend 
and stood by him thru trouble. All he demanded 
was honesty and industry, he was big enough to over- 
look mistakes. 

His paper became the guide of thousands in Mis- 
souri, Kansas, Oklahoma and the great Southwest. 
By its honesty and aggressiveness, its fearlessness in 
attacking evil and promoting progress, it made 
enemies, but its editor never worried over them. 



William R. Nelson, 1841-1915. 83 

This story is told in the life of ''William Rockhill 
Nelson" written by the members of the staff of the 
Kansas City Star. 

-^i .-J: jj: * * 

One day while motoring in Colorado, Mr. Nelson 
stopped at an out-of-the-way inn. After lunch, an 
old man arose and put out his hand: — 

''My name is (so and so) from Chandler, Okla- 
homa." 

"Glad to meet you, sir; my name is Nelson of 
Kansas City." 

"Not Mr. Nelson of The Star?'' exclaimed the man 
in astonishment. 

"Yes, I am Mr. Nelson." 

"Well, sir," said the man as he shook his hand 
again, "I am proud to meet you, Mr. Nelson. I have 
taken your paper for twenty-five years. IVe read 
everything you ever wrote and I never knew you to be 
wrong yet. Your paper is the best paper in the world 
and Fve always wanted to meet you." 

At that the others on the veranda got up and 
came forward. A woman shook his hand and said: — 

"I am from Beloit, Kansas, and we take The Star, 
and it is our favorite paper." 

Then, in turn, a man from Springfield, Missouri, 
a woman from Tulsa, Oklahoma, a man from Gar- 
den City, Kansas, and a man and his wife from some 
place jn Nebraska, each shook hands, and each as- 
sured him that they were Star subscribers, liked it 
better than any other paper, and believed in his 
politics. 

Each person in that group, from widely separated 
places, was a reader of The Star. 



84 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

"Well," said Mr. Nelson, beaming with delight, 
*'we are not strangers after all, but friends." 

H< :{« H: ^ H: 

As an editor, Mr. Nelson made The Star a model 
of city journalism. Its reading matter was always 
refined and instructive. It never degenerated to 
printing family scandals. It stood for the things 
that are best and highest in civilization. It labored 
for the good of mankind. It fought for the right and 
the truth regardless of results. It never acknowledged 
defeat. 

''Nothing much is gained by a single battle," 
said its veteran editor. ''The Star never loses." 

As a citizen, William R. Nelson used his paper 
to represent him in his many battles against evil. 
He hated whiskey and fought the liquor business. 
He told why The Star so strongly opposed the saloon. 

''If they will bring one man, just one, that whiskey 
has ever benefited, I will give up my fight against it: 
and they can have the whole country to search in for 
that one man," he said. "Some of the dearest friends 
I ever had were ruined and done to death by whiskey." 

As a citizen, he pulled Kansas City out of the 
mud. He printed hundreds of articles on paving. 
The people were finally convinced and the streets 
were paved. He worked equally hard for sewers, 
good lights, fire protection, bridges and substantial 
public buildings. Finally was built Kansas City's 
beautiful union station costing six million dollars, 
for which he had labored for years. 

In 1881, Mr. Nelson began his battle for public 
parks in Kansas City. For fifteen years thru The 
Star the people of Kansas City had parks and 



William R. Nelson, 1841-1915. 85 

boulevards for supper every night. Then came the 
first park, then a second, and today Kansas City 
boasts of having the finest system of parks and 
boulevards in the nation. All this was a hard 
struggle, for parks cost money. But The Star was 
victor. Mr. Nelson studied trees, grasses and sods, 
and thru his paper told the people which trees were 
best fitted for Kansas City's soil and climate. He had 
rows of elms planted along some of the streets. He 
imported squirrels from other states. He did every- 
thing to obtain the most accurate information and 
then gave it to the people. 

He also advocated and obtained public bath houses, 
a convention hall, and city owned water-works. 
Whenever he found that he was wrong, Mr. Nelson 
was not afraid to change his opinion. 

''The Star/' he said, "is the only paper in the 
world, I suppose, without a 'fixed policy.' " 

He advocated flood protection, lessening of the 
smoke and noise nuisances, preservation of natural 
scenery, advancement of the schools, protection of 
birds, and the cultivation of back gardens. Anything 
that concerned the people, concerned him as a public 
citizen. ''When a farmer's wife in Western Kansas 
was awarded first prize in a butter-making contest, 
he sent a reporter there to get her story of how she 
did it." Then he told the story to the people. 

As a citizen, he not only attacked the saloon but 
fought all forms of gambling and wickedness. He 
did much to run the lottery swindles, the quacks, and 
the loan sharks from Kansas City. 

He stood for good government when it was danger- 
ous to attack the organized forces of corrupt govern- 



86 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

ment. Thieving politicians he detested and hated. 
He knew their power, their influence, and their 
criminal methods, but he never ceased battling with 
them. He worked for the people and relied on the 
people. 

''You can always trust the people to do what is 
best when they know what is best," he said. 

He thought it was his business as a citizen to tell 
the people thru The Star what he regarded as the 
best in government. He sent his men to other cities 
and to other states to study government and he 
printed their reports in his paper. He thereby kept 
his readers informed on this subject not only as it 
might be written in books but as it was in practice. 
Above all in government, he placed free elections and 
free justice. He thought no man should be made 
to pay part of the cost of running for office. The 
public should pay this. He also thought that the 
state should pay the lawyers in lawsuits. Neither 
of these reforms he advocated* has been adopted. 

As a man, William R. Nelson was remarkable for 
his love of his fellow men. All of his many gifts to 
those in need will never be known. He aided not 
only his friends but hundreds who never knew him 
except by name. He was as kind to his servant, 
Ben, as to his own relatives. When he died the 
servant said: ''I feel that I am an entirely different 
man from knowing Mr. Nelson." 

Many of his old employees on The Star he pension- 
ed, and after their death he continued to help their 
families, when in need. This story is told by one who 
knew its truth. 



William R. Nelson, 1841-1915. 87 

One of the reporters who had been with The Stai^ 
a long time died suddenly of heart disease. After 
the funeral Mr. Nelson said to one of his men: *'You 
go out and see his widow and find out how they are 
situated." 

The man came back and said that they owed 
on a house they were paying for, and that the three 
children were not yet thru school, but would be in 
a year or two. Mr. Nelson ordered that the name of 
that reporter be kept upon the pay-roll for two 
years, which would give time for the house to be 
paid for and the children to finish school. One of 
the children came every pay-day and took home her 
father's salary. This was done so quietly that the 
printing of it was news to even the majority of 
reporters on The Star. 

He gave much, but he never mentioned it. Here 
is an example: Some fifteen or twenty years ago 
Mr. Nelson discovered one of his old school-teachers 
living in poverty in Kansas City and too aged to do 
anything. Mr. Nelson supported the family until 
the old teacher died, and then he paid the funeral 
expenses. He kept on supporting the son and 
daughter until the son died, and he paid for his 
funeral. The daughter is still being supported, and 
will continue to be, because Mr. Nelson laid the 
solemn injunction upon his secretary: "No matter 
what happens, you always see that she is cared for." 

As a friend of man, Mr. Nelson aided every move- 
ment to help the poor. He started 'The Santa Glaus 
Fund" in 1886, and later the ''Good Fellow" move- 
ment. Both of these were formed to persuade men 
and women of means to contribute something in food. 



88 Misson^i's Hall of Fame. 

clothing or presents to the poor women and children 
of Kansas City at Christmas time. A big Christmas 
tree was placed in Convention Hall and the poor of 
Kansas City were imited to attend the distribution 
of baskets filled with food and presents to make 
happier their lives. 

After an illness of several months this gi-eat man 
died at his home on April 13, 1916. Two states, 
Kansas and Missouri, mourned his death. For five 
minutes eveiy wheel in Kansas Citj' stopped running 
by order of the officials. His funeral was one of the 
largest held in Kansas Cit^'. Public buildings were 
draped and all flags were at half-mast. But it was 
when his \^ill was printed that Kansas Citians 
learned how much he loved them. He left the in- 
come from his wealth to his wife and daughter dur- 
ing their lives. After their deaths, his estate was 
given to the public of Kansas City for collecting 
paintings, engravings, sculptures, tapestries and rare 
books. He had labored during his life for the educa- 
tion of the people, he determined that this education 
should continue after his death. 



WALTER WILUAMS, 1864- 
First Pres'ident of the Press Congre-ss of the World 

MOST persons regard the editor of a city news- 
paper as a greater journalist than the country 
editor. The citj' paper is larger, has more news, 
and is sold to tens of thousands, while the country 
press reaches only a few hundred subscribers. When 
Missouri newspapers of importance are mentioned 
they are usually such big city dailies as the Kajusas 
City Star and Times, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch or 
the Republic and the Globe-Democrat. The small 
country- weekly is seldom thought of as a rival of 
these metropolitan newspapers. Still many of 3Iis- 
souri's greatest editors were country editors. Rep- 
resentative of these is one who is the most widely 
kno^^Ti Missouri editor in the state. At the early 
age of twent>--three years he was president of the 
Missouri Press Association; eight years later, he 
was president of the National Editorial Association; 
and in 1915, was elected the first president of the 
Press Congress of the World. He is a native of 
Missouri, was bom and reared in a Missouri country- 
to^^Ti, and has always edited a Missouri country.' news- 
paper. His writings have been widely read, his 
speeches rank high, and his friends are many. His 
name is Walter Williams, Missouri's country- editor. 
Walter Williams was bom at Boon\'ille, on July 
2, 1864. He received a high school education and 
learned the printer's trade. At the age of twent>' 
vears he was editor of the Boonville Advei-tiser, 

(89) 



90 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

which he edited for five years. From 1890 to 1908, 
he was editor of the Columbia Missouri Herald. 
During part of this time he was also editor of The 
Country Editor, the St. Louis Presbyterian and the 
Daily State Tribune, at Jefferson City. 

Since July 1, 1908, he has been dean of the School 
of Journalism, and professor of the history of journal- 
ism, at the University of Missouri. This was the 
first school of its kind in the United States. It is 
also the largest. Its graduates have edited papers 
over the nation, in China, Japan, Australia, the 
Hawaiian Islands and Canada. 

In cooperation with the Misouri Press Association, 
Walter Williams also founded "Journalism Week" at 
the University of Missouri. During ''Journalism 
Week" hundreds of Missouri editors gather in 
Columbia and for five days discuss the problems of 
running a newspaper. How to get news, the cost 
of ink and paper, and the best printing machines 
are som,e of these problems. Editors and speakers 
of note from other states deliver addresses. The 
week closes with a banquet. The last three banquets 
were, a ''Made-in-Missouri Banquet," a ''Made-in- 
America Banquet," and a ''Made-in-Japan Banquet." 
These unique banquets are widely known and have at- 
tracted much interest. For example, at the ''Made-in- 
Japan Banquet" all the food and decorations came 
from Japan. 

As an editor, Walter Williams is the most widely 
known Missourian of his day. He has visited more 
foreign newspaper offices than any other American. 
Not only in England, France, Germany and Italy has 



Walter Williams, 1864- 91 




WAl.TJ-:il WILLIAMS 



92 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

he traveled, but he has been in Russia, Turkey, 
Egypt, India, Australia, China and Japan, to learn 
how other people edit newspapers. He was commis- 
sioner at the St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposi- 
tion to the foreign editors. In 1902 he was presi- 
dent of the North American Press at the International 
Press Congress, held in Switzerland. He was or- 
ganizer and secretary of the World's Press Parlia- 
ment at St. Louis and was director of the Inter- 
national Press Congress at San Francisco. These 
positions of honor have come to this Missouri 
country editor because of the important place he 
holds in the field of journalism. The beginning of his 
fame as a journalist was when he became editor of 
The Columbia Missouri Herald. 

During the eighteen years Walter Williams was 
editor of this paper, he established a reputation. 
When he took charge of this newspaper in 1890, 
Columbia was a little country town of four thousand 
inhabitants. The young editor was only twenty-six 
years old. He was a stranger to his own subscribers, 
having lived previously in Boonville. He had neither 
wealth nor influence. Scores of Missouri editors had 
had more experience, had more friends, had more 
subscribers, and were located in towns as good as 
Columbia. In less than ten years, however. The 
Columbia Missouri Herald was the best country 
newspaper in Missouri. It was issued weekly. Some 
copies contained from fifty to seventy pages! In less 
than a decade the number of subscribers had increased 
from two thousand to five thousand and everyone paid 
in advance for his paper. 



Walter Williams, 1864- 93 

The Columbia Missouri Herald became not onlj^ the 
most widely read country newspaper in Columbia and 
Boone county, but the most quoted one in the State 
of Missouri. Containing interesting articles on 
Missouri history and biography, literature and art, 
science and invention, public affairs and current 
opinion, it represented a high type of journalism. 
It was a magazine and a newspaper combined. Even 
today the old issues of this publication are interest- 
ing reading. Little wonder is it that the editor 
became famous. 

It was but a step from managing The Columbia 
Missouri Herald to directing the School of Journalism 
at the University of Missouri. The editor now be- 
came the educator. As an educator, Walter Williams 
became even better known than he had been as an 
editor. The Missouri School of Journalism was 
founded to train men and women for journalism so 
that they might be better able to serve their state 
and country. During the ten years of its existence, 
one thousand two hundred students have received 
instruction, and one hundred and eighty have grad- 
uated. Of the graduates ninety per cent are today 
actively engaged in journalism. 

As an educator, the methods of instruction adopted 
by Walter Williams have been the model for other 
schools of journalism that have been founded since 
1908. The Missouri School of Journalism is known 
over the world. Its graduates and former students 
are highly regarded. Its success as an institution 
of learning is greater than any other of its kind in 
the world. 



94 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

As an orator, Walter Williams is also widely 
known. Most orators are either preachers, lawyers, 
or statesmen. Walter Williams is a plain country 
editor, still he has delivered more public addresses 
on invitation than any other man in the state con- 
sidering his years. His speeches have imparted 
advice to graduating classes in country schools and 
universities. His addresses have entertained and 
instructed literary and comm.ercial clubs. He has 
spoken at good road meetings and public celebra- 
tions. He has addressed press associations and 
church conventions. He has been the orator of the 
day at the dedication of buildings and the marking 
of historic spots. But he is at his best as an after- 
dinner speaker. He is one of the most entertaining 
and delightful toastmasters in Missouri. His stories 
and jokes are original and his manner of speaking is 
usually hesitating. His charm lies in the beauty of 
his language, his modest courteous manner, his 
natural way of speaking and his ideals of thought. 
He is always a gentleman. 

It may have been the educator and the orator 
who made his Sunday-school class the largest in the 
world, but it was probably Walter Williams, the man, 
who drew men and women by the hundreds to listen 
to his Sabbath morning talks. In the midst of his 
many duties, of his family cares when his wife lay 
sick for weeks, he still preserved the calm manner 
and courtesy of the Christian gentleman. He will 
live in history as the country editor and the educa- 
tor, he will be remembered as an author and orator, 
but he will be loved as a citizen, neighbor and 
gentleman. 



CLARA C. HOFFMAN, 1831-1908 
Missouri's Great Heart 

LESS than forty years ago any woman who attempt- 
ed to take an active part in public affairs was 
frowned upon by the people and was generally 
regarded with suspicion and disfavor. This seems 
almost unbelieveable today when it is common to 
hear women speakers; to read of women voting in 
some states; to learn of women on school boards; 
and to see women everywhere organized in clubs 
and lodges trying to help the poor, clean the back- 
yards and the alleys, or drive out the saloons. There 
is even a woman "Congressman" in Washington, D. 
C, representing the third largest state in the union, 
Montana. 

Forty years ago, however, all this was different. 
Woman was the mother of the home and the leader 
in society, but outside of these she was permitted to 
do little except teach school, attend church and 
furnish the good old church dinners, and occasionally 
run a store, postofRce or tavern. If she had even 
dared to ask to serve on school boards, people would 
have laughed at her. If on election day, she had 
gone on the streets and asked men to vote against 
the saloon, they would probably have thought she 
should be home ''tending to her business." And if 
she had made a speech in public asking that women 
be permitted to vote, many would have said that she 
was insane. 

(95) 



96 Missouri's Hall of Fame, 

All this has changed or is rapidly changing today. 
Now we see not one but a thousand women on the 
streets on election day when people are voting on 
having saloons or closing them. At other times they 
go from house to house, and from store to store, 
raising money to build a public library building, or to 
buy food and clothing for the poor, or to help the 
Red Cross and Y. M. C. A. Although they do not have 
the vote in Missouri, they are very powerful in 
public life. They are still the mothers of the homes, 
they still teach more children than all the men in 
the nation, they still form two-thirds of a church 
congregation on a Sunday morning, they still cook the 
church dinners and serv^e the sandwiches and ice- 
cream, but they are now doing a hundred other 
things to help both man and woman. 

This change in woman's work was gradual. It 
took years. Even today it is not ended. Some say 
that it will nevQr end, others say that it will when 
woman is regarded as the equal of man, has the 
same privileges, is given the same opportunities. One 
of the first and greatest leaders in Missouri who had 
the courage to begin this fight for woman was Clara 
C. Hoffman— Missouri's "Great Heart." 

The life of Mrs. Clara Cleghorn Hoffman covers 
seventy-seven years. In dates it is brief, in work 
it is without end. A single paragraph could easily 
give every important date in her life. This is also 
true of nearly every woman. She is bom; is educat- 
ed; marries, is the mother of so many children, 
(sometimes she teaches school) ; if fortunate, takes 
a trip; and dies. A great poet once said that the 



Clara C. Hoffman, 1831-1908. 



97 



annals or history of the poor is brief. This is also 
true of the life of a woman, or rather it was true 
until the last few years. 

Clara Cleghorn was born in New York, January 
19, 1831, of Scotch parents. She was the twelfth child 
in a family of thirteen. Educated in New York and 
Massachusetts, she 
went west to Keokuk, 
Iowa to live with one 
of her brothers. She 
then taught school in 
Illinois and in 1862 
married Dr. Goswin 
Hoffman, a German 
physican and a uni- 
versity graduate. They 
moved to Warrens- 
burg, Missouri, in 
1869 and two years 
later to Kansas City. 
Doctor Hoffman died 
in 1893 and the elder 
of their two sons 




died 



CLARA C. HOFKMAX 

in 1896. For ten 
years Mrs. Hoffman was principal of the Lathrop 
School in Kansas City, resigning in 1882 to serv^e 
as the first president of the Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union of Missouri. She filled 
this position for twenty-five years, and for twelve 
years was recording secretary of the national W. 
C. T. U. In 1895 she was elected a delegate to the 
world's temperance convention in London, England. 
After the convention, Mrs. Hoffman traveled and 
lectured for eight months in England, Germany, 



98 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

France and Switzerland. Her health failing, she 
suffered an attack of pneumonia in 1908, and after an 
illness of four \yeeks, died on February 13, 1908. 

By her long service of a quarter of a century as 
president of the Missouri Woman's Christian Tem- 
perance Union, Mrs. Hoffman was recognized over 
the nation as one of the leaders of that body. Or- 
ganized to oppose the manufacture and sale of all 
liquor — beer, wine, and whiskey — the W. C. T. U. 
has been one of the most powerful forces in the 
nation in the cause of prohibition. To drive out the 
saloon and to stop the sale of liquor, has been its 
battle cry. It covers the nation, having a central 
or national organization and also an organization in 
each state. In Missouri work was completed for or- 
ganizing a Missouri W. C. T. U. in 1882. 

In May of that year the W. C. T. U. members 
living in the state, met at Hannibal and formally 
organized. At this meeting Mrs. Hoffman first met 
the national president of the W. C. T. U., Miss 
Frances E. Willard. They formed a friendship that 
grew in love and helpfulness as the years passed. 
Miss Willard was a remarkable woman. She did 
more for the temperance or anti-saloon movement 
in the West than any other person. She is the 
only woman in the nation whose statue is in Statuary 
Hall in Washington — being one of the representatives 
selected by the State of Illinois. 

At the meeting of the National W. C. T. U. in 
Louisville, Kentucky, in the fall of 1882, Mrs. Hoff- 
man was elected president of the Missouri W. C. T. 
U. by the six Missouri women present. Her election 



Clara C. Hoffman, 1831-1908. 99 

was confirmed by the national body. Mrs. Hoffman 
was not present at the Louisville meeting. She 
resigned her school position to take up the great 
work before her in the cause of prohibition. 

The first annual meeting of the Missouri W. C. T. 
U. was held in September, 1883. Work was begun 
at once to free Missouri from the saloon. This 
work is not yet finished, but the Missouri W. C. T. U. 
was instrumental in making most of Missouri's 
counties dry by vote of the people. 

At first little encouragement was given Mrs. Hoff- 
man and her "White Ribbon" workers — as they were 
called from the white ribbon badges they still wear. 
Many churches even refused to permit them to 
deliver speeches in their cause. People were then 
indifferent to the saloon question. Altho some 
persons looked upon the saloon as an evil, it was not 
regarded as a menace. They thought that since 
America had always had saloons, America would 
always have them. Besides nearly all the men and 
women of that day did not think it was proper for 
women to take up this kind of work. 

People made fun of the little band of women who 
said that some day they would close up the saloons 
of Missouri. In those days saloons were every\vhere. 
Young boys and old men were frequently seen 
drunk on the public streets of Missouri's towns and 
cities. Thousands of men spent their weekly wages 
for beer and whiskey and then went home to their 
wives and children without money to buy bread, 
meat and clothing. The saloon not only made 
physical wrecks of many men thru its intoxicating 
liquors, but it ruined homes, made paupers of women 



100 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

and children, and even corrupted the government. 
Today it seems strange that such a business as a 
saloon was permitted to do this in nearly every town 
in the nation for years and years. What is even 
stranger, however, is that the people in general 
opposed anyone, man or woman, who tried to drive 
out of existence such an evil. 

In spite of little help, Mrs. Hoffman and her 
''White Ribbon" workers toiled year after year. 
First a town, then a county voted dry. Other counties 
joined the movement. Finally it spread over the 
State of Missouri. 

Much of the credit for this work is due to Mrs. 
Hoffman. She led the hundreds of determined 
Missouri women who fought against the saloon. 
Without their help nothing could have been done; 
without her leadership success would have been de- 
layed. 

Miss Frances E. Willard said this of Mrs Hoffman : 

''Mrs Hoffman is the Thomas H. Benton of the 
prohibition movement. She is every whit as able as 
was the great senator from Missouri and brings to 
her plea for protection of the Christian fireside a 
logic as powerful, a pathos far more tender, and b. 
personality vastly more homelike." 

Miss Willard loved this Missouri woman with deep 
affection. She gave her a name that will always be 
remembered by the temperance women of this state. 
This name, somehow, seems to tell the very life work 
and soul of Clara C. Hoffman. She was called the 
"Great Heart." 

In the reading room of The State Historical 
Society of Missouri, at Columbia, is a beautiful. 



Clara C. Hoffman, 1831-1908. 101 

marble bust statue of Mrs. Hoffman. It was made 
by the noted St. Louis sculptor, Prof. George J. 
Zolnay. Professor Zolnay said that in all his career 
he had never done a piece of work that had meant 
so much to him, that had been so much of an inspira- 
tion, as the study of the life and soul of this great 
woman. Below the statue are these words: 

"Missouri's Great Heart" 
Clara C. Hoffman 
. President Missouri 

Woman's Christian Temperance Union For 
Twenty-five Years 

Mrs. Hoffman is said to have been a fine speaker. 
Her voice was rich and melodious. She had a re- 
markable mind and a deep sense of justice. She was 
brave, resourceful and persistent as all great leaders 
are. She made friends by the thousands. Pier in- 
fluence reached far beyond the boundaries of Mis- 
souri. Her life was bound up in her work. To a 
friend she once wrote these words: 

''When I am lying cold in my cofUn, written above 
my heart in letters of living fire will be the words, 
'Missouri Woman's Christian Temperance Union.' " 

She believed that the temperance and prohibition 
movement should have the support of all Christians. 
She thought of evil as something that Christianity 
should fight against. The saloon she regarded as a 
great evil. 

Clara C. Hoffman not only wanted to free man 
from the saloon but also hoped to free woman from 
her limited field of mental and physical activity. 
She wanted woman to read widely on public ques- 
tions, to inform herself on what the government is 



102 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

doing as well as on the latest style in dresses. She 
hoped that some day woman would be permitted to 
vote. When that day came, she said the saloon 
would go. 

Such a person, be it man or woman, naturally 
makes enemies. Mrs. Hoffman was no exception. 
Although she had friends by the thousands, she also 
made enemies. Many of the latter, however, have 
joined in praises of her work since her death. She 
did not work for herself but for others. The saloon 
was no menace to her, except as is might have 
taken her husband and her two boys from her some 
day. To her, the saloon was a menace ever present 
to all men, women and children. She wanted to 
destroy that menace. 

The sayings of Mrs. Clara C. Hoffman have been 
collected by Mrs. Nelle G. Burger, from which these 
have been selected: 

What Clara C. Hoffman Said 

Reformers have never waited for public sentiment. 

The W. C. T. U. was not formed for a mutual ad- 
miration society, nor yet for mutual benefit, but for 
the destruction of the liquor business. 

Whoever touches politics touches men, women and 
children; touches our purses, our morals and our 
homes. 

Woman may forget herself, but can she forget her 
children or be indifferent to what affects them? 

Will the liquor traffic pay for the homes it has 
ruined, the lives it has cursed, the industry it has 
crippled, the men it has destroyed? 



Clara C. Hoffman, 1831-1908. 103 

There is no community so dense and dark where 
the combined church could not drive out the saloon. 

Whatever touches men, women and children — ■ 
whatever touches their morals and their welfare, — is 
the vital concern of the church. 

Oh, men of Missouri! for very shame sake vote to 
protect the home, or give woman the vote that she 
may protect it herself. 

Every state shows more crime and misery caused 
by the use of liquor obtained at the saloons than by 
any other agent. 

Two-thirds of our church members are women — 
while they form less than one-fifth of our criminals. 

All reforms must come thru agitation and educa- 
tion. 

We have no ballot? True, alas, too true! But we 
have or should have intelligent opinions on all public 
questions — We have arguments — We have convic- 
tions ... we have voices . . . for the ask- 
ing, we may have more and more. 

If we love God, then must we love humanity. 
* * * * 

No one can ever write the history of Missouri and 
leave out of that writing the patient, tender, sacri- 
ficing, enduring love and labor of Missouri's White 
Ribbon Army. 



ALEXANDER W. DONIPHAN, 1808-1887 

Soldier, Latvyer and Orator 

\ PEOPLE wonderful in deeds are the citizens of 
^ ^ Missouri. Native born, nine out of ten, they are 
true types of the patriotic American. Missouri's 
first American settlers came largely from Virginia, 
Kentucky, Tennessee and the two Carolinas. These 
pioneers were of hardy stock. They had fought 
Indians and had endured the hardships of the fron- 
tier. They were born soldiers, large of frame, keen 
of eye and not afraid of death. They found Missouri 
a wilderness, where roamed the savage Indian, except 
-^or a few settlements along the Mississippi River' 
Their first task was to blaze trails thru the country, 
build forts and establish frontier settlements. This 
was hard work and took years to do. Battles with 
the Indians were many. Subduing the wilderness 
with its dense forest and brush, its wild animals, and 
frequently its unhealthy climate, required courage 
and toil. It was these hardships, however, that 
trained the pioneer Missourian to overcome all ob- 
stacles, to fear neither man nor beast, and to wil- 
lingly give his life for what he thought was right. 
It produced a race of such dauntless men as Gen. 
Henry Dodge, who defeated the great Indian chief, 
Black Hawk; Kit Carson, the great guide of the 
West; General Richai^d Gentry, who with his band 
of Missouri soldiers, waged war in Florida against 
the Seminole Indian chief, Osceola; and scores of 
other early heroes. Among the greatest and most 

(104) 



Alexander W. Doniphan, 1808-1887. 105 

renowned of these was one who came to Missouri a 
young man, lived and married here, and whose 
remains today rest in Missouri soil— Col. Alexander 
W. Doniphan, soldier, lawyer, statesman, orator and 
gentleman. 

Born in Kentucky on July 9, 1808, Doniphan was 
the youngest of twelve children. His father died 
when young Doniphan was only six years old. His 
mother, who was a remarkable woman, gave him a 
fine education. He had the best of teachers and 
later graduated with honest honors from college. 

His ambition was to be a lawyer and he studied 
under several of the best lawyers in Kentucky. At 
the age of twenty-one he was admitted to the bar 
and began to practice law. 

This following year he came and settled in Lexing- 
ton, Missouri. Altho only twenty-two years old, he 
was soon looked upon as a good lawyer. He had 
neither friends nor funds at first, and had to com- 
pete against some of the best lawyers in the state. 
Instead of being discouraged, he worked harder. It 
was not long until he had built up a large practice. 

He moved to Liberty in 1833 and lived there thirty 
years. He was elected a member of the Missouri 
Legislature three times, altho he belonged to the 
minority party in Missouri— the Whigs. These elec- 
tions were due to his great popularity. 

He married a Clay county girl, and to them were 
born two sons. One of Colonel Doniphan's greatest 
disappointments in life was the early death of these 
two boys. One died of accidental poisoning, the 
other of drowning. 



106 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

Colonel Doniphan was made a brigadier-general in 
the Missouri militia and commanded a brigade at the 
time of the Mormon troubles in this state. In 1846- 
7 he led an expedition of one thousand Missourians 
during the Mexican war and returned with highest 
honors. 

He held other public offices, with credit to himself 
and his country. During the Civil War, he took the 
side of the Union. He made his home in St. Louis 
for a few years, and in 1868 moved to Richmond, 
Missouri. His wife died in 1873. Her loss greatly 
depressed him with grief. For twenty-eight years 
he was a member of the Christian church. On 
August 8, 1887, when in his eightieth year, he died at 
his home in Richmond. He sleeps today by his wife's 
side in a grave in Liberty. A fine statue of him was 
erected in Richmond by the State of Missouri. 

The story of the life of Col. Alexander W. Doni- 
phan is classic in Missouri history. The influence of 
his life was felt all over the state. His life story 
reveals a great man, equipped mentally and morally 
to conquer, but not ambitious to hold public office. 
His greatness is also shown in the many different 
lines of work that he did well. 

As a lawyer, he stood in the front rank of his 
profession. 

As a statesman, he had the confidence of his 
people. 

As an orator, he was the equal of Missouri's most 
eloquent speakers. 

As a soldier, he won fame that will last forever. 

And as a citizen and gentleman, he was honest, 
courteous and public spirited. 



Alexander W. Doniphan, 1808-1887. 107 




v^ 



.^ 



-~sj 



108 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

In all these, he won distinction and served well his 
State. 

As a lawyer, Colonel Doniphan was very success- 
ful. This was due to his fine education and his 
training in law. He knew literature and history — 
both American and English — as well as a professor. 
It is said that before he was twenty-five years old 
he was known as a great lawyer over all Western 
Missouri. 

Colonel Doniphan was a criminal lawyer, i. e., he 
took lawsuits regarding robbery, murder and theft. 
He never prosecuted, but always defended the person 
on trial. He made the closing speech for his client 
and it was then that he frequently moved men and 
women, juries and judges, to tears. He could ex- 
plain a law so simply that even a school-boy or girl 
could understand it. He reasoned everything out 
accurately. His speeches were never prepared be- 
forehand but delivered extemporaneously. These 
speeches won the praise of even his opponents. His 
language was beautiful and his gestures graceful. 
He also had a magnetic presence that drew people 
to him. He never talked long sometimes his speech 
before a jury was only fifteen minutes in length. 

One of his most famous cases was the Turnham 
case. In this case he defended the son of Major 
Turnham who was accused of crime. After Colonel 
Doniphan had finished. Major Turnham was asked 
wha4: he thought of it. He answered: 

"Sir, Aleck Doniphan spoke only forty minutes, 
but he said everything." 

It is one of the regrettable things that few of 
Colonel Doniphan's speeches have been preserved. 



Alexander W. Doniphan, 1808-1887. 109 

As a statesman, Doniphan achieved distinction. 
He was not ambitious to hold public office, but his 
sense of duty forced him to accept several. He did 
this at a loss in money, for he had to give up his 
profitable law practice. He was able and honest as 
a statesman and was highly regarded by all. 

He went to Washington, D. C, in 1861 to attend 
a celebrated conference of men from other states 
Here he met President Lincoln. On being introduced 
President Lincoln said: 

"And this is the Colonel Doniphan who made the 
wild march against the Comanches (Indians) and 
Mexicans! You are the only man I ever met who 
m appearance, come up to my expectations " 

As an orator. Colonel Doniphan was one of the 
most eloquent in Missouri. Senator David R At 
chison who had heard Webster, Clay. Benton,' and 
other American speakers, said- 

l2 S7t fii"" ''°"'^''"" "^"' '"t^ately, since 
l«dO and I tell you, sir, when he was at his best I 
heard him climb higher than any of them " 

Colonel Doniphan's appearance was imposing. In 
height, he was six feet and four inches. He had a 
fine head and his forehead was high. His eyes were 
hazel and his lips always smiling, when young his 
complexion was fair and his hair sandy 

Colonel Doniphan told a friend that he never be 
gan a speech without feeling bashful. Many great 

«ni' .?•■ ! ' °^ ^'^^"^y' '^"^^ Doniphan well 

and this is what he says: 

"What an orator he was! Men who had been in 
Congress used to say that Webster and Clay couS 



110 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

not sway men as could old Alex Doniphan. He may 
have been bashful before he began, but once under 
way he was on fire. The whole man was like a flame. 
His burning eyes, his gestures, his tall figure — every- 
thing about was like fire. I think perhaps I cannot 
give you a better idea of him than to tell you what 
an old woodsman, Adam K. McClintock, told me once. 
He was describing a barbecue on the Clear Fork of 
Fishing River at a place called Hawkin's Mill. 
McClintock, a young man, was helping serve the bar- 
becue, and at first he paid no particular attention to 
the speaking. There were several speakers. 

Charmed Birds and Squirrels 

** 'Finally it came around to Doniphan,' the woods- 
man said, 'and instantly there was a great rush of 
people from all around to the speakers' stand. At 
the very first I paid no particular attention to it. 
As he went on he charmed not only the people, but 
the birds and the wild animals. I discovered that the 
trees around the speakers' stand were full of birds 
and squirrels, chattering and barking away. He 
had even charmed the birds and squirrels out of their 
lairs. I never saw such an affect produced on people 
as he made that day. He was young, very tall and 
splendid looking, with a voice very keen, which rang 
through the woods, and an eye that flashed lightning.' " 

While Colonel Doniphan won fame as a lawyer, 
statesman and orator, it was as a soldier that he at- 
tracted the attention of the nation. No Missourian 
has a more premanent place in history than he. It 
was as a soldier that he won greatest distinction. 



Alexander W. Doniphan, 1808-1887. Ill 

His first military campaign was in 1838 and was 
against the Mormons at Far West, in Caldwell county, 
Missouri. He commanded the First Missouri Brigade 
and was ordered to proceed to the storm center of 
the Mormon troubles. A battle was expected but 
Colonel Doniphan induced the Mormons to surrender 
their arms, give up their leaders, and leave the state. 
So ended successfully and without the loss of a man 
on either side, his first campaign. 

The second and last campaign of Colonel Doniphan 
was made in 1846-7 during the Mexican War. This 
campaign was the famous Doniphan's Expedition of 
One Thousand Missourians. This expedition was 
completed in twelve months, during which time the v 
men traveled four thousand miles by land and two 
thousand five hundred miles by sea. It returned 
laden with spoils and lost less than one hundred men. 
Doniphan's Expedition of One Thousand Missouri- 
ans is classic in history. It left its base of supplies 
at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, crossed the plains of 
Kansas and Colorado, and the mountains and deserts 
of New Mexico and northern old Mexico. Its path 
was contested by bands of Indians, large Mexican 
armies, and by nature's weapons of heat and cold, 
hunger and thirst. It conquered two powerful tribes 
of Indians, won two battles against the Mexicans 
where the Missourians were outnumbered four to one, 
and subdued several hundred thousand hostile Mex- V 
leans. It captured many cities, three capitals, and 
four Mexican states. 

The route of the Expedition was from Fort Leaven- 
worth to Santa Fe, New Mexico. From Santa Fe, 
the army went into the mountains and conquered 



V 



112 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

some Indian tribes. The men had received no pay 
for their services since leaving home and their clothes 
were in bad condition. Their spirits were high, how- 
ever, and they were full of fight. 

Leaving Santa Fe in December, 1846, they marched 
to the Rio Grande River. The cold wind and snow 
on the desert caused the men to suffer greatly. They 
had neither winter clothing nor tents. On part of 
the march they were without water for ninety miles. 

They reached the Brazito river, a small stream, 
on Christmas day and prepared to camp. Colonel 
Doniphan sought recreation over a game of cards. 
He was playing with his ofRcers for a stake. The 
winner was to have a fine Mexican horse, which had 
been captured earlier in the day. But the game was 
not to be finished. A messenger stood before the 
Colonel : 

''There is a big cloud of dust to the south, which 
must be the Mexicans approaching." he said. 

''Then we must stop the game long enough to whip 
the Mexicans," Colonel Doniphan said rising. "But 
remember, I have the biggest score, and we will play 
it out as soon as the battle is finished." 

The troops under Colonel Doniphan were soon look- 
ing into the fire-spitting muzzles of the enemies guns. 
The Missourians did not fire. They waited. It was 
the order of their commander. 

The fire of the Mexicans grew fiercer. But the 
Missourians only waited the order to fire. At last 
it was given. The Mexicans had reached within one 
hundred and fifty yards of the Missourians when 
they were fired upon. The enemy was checked, the 



Alexander W. Doniphan, 1808-1887. 113 

horses reared upon their haunches, and many of the 
Mexicans fled in a panic. The others were soon de- 
feated by the keen aim of the Missourians. Over 
fifty Mexicans were killed and one hundred w^ere 
wounded, while only seven Missourians were injured, 
none fatally. The victors obtained many spoils in 
horses, ammunition, cannon, and food. That Christ- 
mas night Doniphan's soldiers celebrated their vic- 
tory, known in history as the battle of Brazito. 

From Brazito, Colonel Doniphan marched to El 
Paso, which he captured. From there he entered 
northern Mexico and won against four thousand 
Mexicans in the Battle of Sacramento. He then cap- 
tured cities in northern Mexico. His troops embarked 
on ship for New Orleans and came on to St. Louis. 
At home they were received with dinners and speech- 
es. Missouri w^as indeed proud of Colonel Doniphan 
and his One Thousand Missourians. 

As a citizen, Colonel Doniphan represented the best 
and highest ideals. His private and social life was 
perfect. He was a loving husband, a just and liberal 
father. He was a pleasant neighbor, honorable in all 
his dealings with men. He was generous, and helped 
many young men with his advice and money. He 
was a true friend of education. He was often seen 
visiting the grade and the high schools. 

He encouraged the children. For years he served 
on the school board in Liberty and in 1854, when at 
the height of his Mexican War fame, he accepted the 
humble position of commissioner or superintendent 
of the public schools of Clay county. He said he 
ought to do so because the people of the county had 
done everthing they could for him. He held this office 



V 



114 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

one year and brought honor to it and to himself bj^ 
establishing the first Teachers' Institute held in a 
Missouri county. 

Colonel Doniphan's greatest work for education was 
his securing the location of William Jewell College 
at Liberty. When this question came before the Gen- 
eral Baptist Convention, the principal rivals for the 
school were Boonville, Columbia, Fayette and Liberty. 
Few thought that Liberty had a chance of getting 
the college, because it was situated so near the west- 
ern frontier. Boonville, the meeting place of the 
Convention, had certain advantages. Fayette was 
also favored. Columbia had the best chance since 
it was the home of Dr. William Jewell. Doctor Jew- 
ell offered a bonus of $10,000 in land if Columbia 
was given the college. 

Clay county was represented by Colonel Doniphan, 
who was not even a member of the Baptist church. 
Colonel Doniphan spoke for Liberty and by his elo- 
quence won the college for his town. Colonel Doni- 
phan saw that Dr. William Jewell was deeply dis- 
appointed and so he arose and proposed to the Con- 
vention that the college be named "William Jewell." 
This was agreed to, and in gratitude, Doctor Jewell 
publicly donated the $10,000 in land. 

Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan was a conquering 
genius. He was a friend of education and religion. 
He was an orator and a lawyer of note. His career 
as a soldier, while brief, will ever live. He was a 
kind father and husband, a true neighbor and friend, 
and a model gentleman in all things. 



JOHN J. PERSHING, 1860- 
America's Commanding General in France 

r^XACTLY seventy years after Colonel Doniphan 
^ led his famous Expedition of One Thousand Mis- 
sourians into northern Mexico in 1846-47 — the first 
American military expedition to cross those sandy 
deserts — another United States army in Mexico cam- 
paigned over the same ground. But more remark- 
able still v^as the fact that the leader of the second 
expedition, like that of the first, was a Missourian. 

''Colonel. Alexander W. Doniphan, who led the 
expedition in 1846-47, was a Clay county lawyer; 
General John Joseph Pershing, Missouri's Doniphan 
of 1916-17, was also a lawyer, although his experience 
at the bar had been brief. Pershing became a cavalry- 
man by accident, but he rose to the rank of general by 
sheer merit. That series of Indian uprisings which be- 
gan in the Southwest during the late eighties — was the 
accident which turned his career into a military chan- 
nel.'^ 

When the first American soldiers landed in France 
in the summer of 1917, they were also led by Gen- 
eral Pershing. ''Black Jack" Pershing he is called by 
his friends. The high position occupied by this great 
soldier should be the pride of every Missourian. His 
life should be known by every schoolboy and girl. He 
is a leader of world-wide fame. The story of his life 
reads like a fairy tale, only his good fairy was hard 
work and determination. By these he won success. 

(115) 



116 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 




JOHN J. PERSHING 

(From Missouri Historical Review, State Hist. Soc. of Mo. 

Columbia.) 



John J. Pershing, 1860- 117 

General Pershing was born in Linn county, Mis- 
souri, near the town of Laclede, on September 13, 
1860. He was a quiet lad, ambitious and self-pos- 
sessed. He had a complexion as fair as a girl, and 
his hair was almost white — the boys called him 
''tow-head." He was not a bully but was also not 
afraid to fight. He was a typical American boy, full 
of life and courage. 

His father was a foreman or ''boss" of a railroad 
section "gang" and later owned a store in Laclede. 
His father being poor, young Pershing had to work. 
He taught school for a time in order to earn enough 
money to finish his education. 

Altho he never sought a quarrel, the young lad 
was known even at this time to be a good fighter, who 
never acknowledged defeat. This story is told of 
the fighting young school teacher. 

One day at noon hour a big farmer with red 
whiskers rode up to the schoolhouse with a revolver 
in his hand. Pershing had whipped one of the farm- 
er's children and the farmer was going to give the 
young school-master a good flogging. One of Persh- 
ing's pupils tells the story as he recalled it thirty- 
eight years later: 

"I remember how he rode up cussing before all 
the children in the school-yard and how another 
boy and I ran down a gully because we were afraid. 
We peeped over the edge, tho, and heard Pershing 
tell the farmer to put up his gun, get down off his 
horse and fight like a man." 

"The farmer got down and John stripped oflf his 
coat. He was only a boy of seventeen or eighteen 



118 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

and slender, but he thrashed the big farmer sound- 
ly. And I have hated red whiskers ever since.'' 

Pershing saved enough from teaching school to 
attend the Kirksville State Normal School. He 
graduated there in 1880. He wanted to go to college 
and study law. Luck favored him and he was ap- 
pointed to West Point, where the United States train- 
ed the officers of her national army. Pershing first 
had to pass a competitive examination and won by 
only one point over another young man. He gradu- 
ated from West Point in 1886 with the rank of 
senior cadet captain, the highest honor West Point 
confers. 

The next ten years he spent fighting Indians in 
New Mexico, Arizona and the Dakotas. Here he 
was noted as a brave and cool fighter and was highly 
complimented by his officers. 

For four years he was military instructor at the 
University of Nebraska, where he completed the 
course in law. 

Ten years of Indian fighting and desert hunting 
had toughened his body and sharpened his wits. He 
was tall, deep-chested, slim-waisted, and graceful 
from life in the saddle. He was fully prepared 
for the great work now just ahead of him. 

When the Spanish-American war broke out in 
1898, Lieutenant Pershing went to Cuba. Here he 
was in the battle of ElCaney, where he fought well. 
His Colonel said this of him: 

"I have been in many fights and was all through 
the Civil War, but on my word he (Pershing) is 
the bravest and coolest man under fire I ever saw." 



John J. Pershing, 1860- 119 

After the war in Cuba, Pershing went to Washing- 
ton, D. C, where he aided the government in handling 
the new island possessions of the United States — 
Porto Rico and the Philippines. 

He soon tired of desk work and early in 1899 left 
for the Philippines to help conquer the natives, who 
were still fighting the United States. 

In the Philippines, Pershing was very successful 
as a soldier. He was also successful in making 
peace with the natives, who were called Moros. 

Pershing returned to the United States in 1903, 
and then went to Japan. In that country he saw 
the great war between Japan and Russia in 1905. 
He was with the Japanese army much of the time 
and observed many things that were to greatly help 
him later. 

In 1906, he was again called to the Philippines 
and was made commander of one of the large islands 
and governor of a Moro province. He stayed there 
eight years. During these years he won the respect 
of all. The natives learned they could not impose 
on him and that he could be depended on to aid them. 
He was honest and just to all. Finally the natives 
grew to love him. 

This native love for him was often embarressing 
to the young officer, whose modesty was as great 
as his courage. 

One morning he awoke to find himself the father 
of a fine eighteen year old boy. The real father 
of the lad was a Sultan, and had honored Pershing 
by giving him his heir. 

When the United States began having trouble 
with Mexico in 1915, General Pershing was sent 



120 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

to the border. In 1916, he was given command of 
an American force of 10,000 soldiers to invade 
Northern Mexico and capture the Mexican bandit 
leader. Villa. Villa escaped but the expedition was 
well led in every detail. 

When the war was declared against Germany by 
the United States in 1917, General Pershing was 
given command of the American soldiers. At the 
writing of this article (1918) General Pershing is 
still in France with his army of brave, American 
boys, fighting for the democracy of the world. 

Many are the stories told of General Pershing. 
This one is by Aunt Susan Hewett, an aged widow 
of Laclede, who has known General Pershing since 
he was a boy: 

"Law, yes, I remember John when he wasn't more 
than two or three years old. We used to run a hotel 
when my husband, Captain Hewett, was alive and 
when John was big enough to put on trousers he 
used to eat more pie in our kitchen than any other 
boy in town. 

*'He was back here ten years ago. It was on the 
twenty-fourth day of October that Uncle Henry 
Lomax came up to my door and said, 'Aunt Susan, 
there's a gentleman outside that wants to see you.' 
When I stepped out and saw a tall young man. Uncle 
Henry asked me if I knew who it was. 

'' 'Yes,' I says, 'I can see , his mother's features 
in his face. It's John Pershing.' He came to me 
with arms open and he embraced and kissed me and 
we both cried. 'Aunt Susan,' he says — and I'll never 
forget his words as long as I live — 'Aunt Susan, it 
does my very heart good to meet my mother's dear 



John J. Pershing, 1860- 121 

old friends. The place seems like home to me and 
it always will. I've been away a long time and there 
have been many changes but this is home.' 

"The chrysanthemums were in bloom and after 
we had talked a while in the parlor I went out and 
picked a boquet for him to take away. 

" 'They are going to have some kind of a reception 
for me tonight, and I want you to come. Aunt Susan,' 
he says. I told him I'd try to be there, but that I 
was tired and worn out because I had been working 
in the garden. 'You won't have to walk. Aunt Susan,' 
he says, I'll come after you myself.' About five in 
the afternoon he came in a buggy. 

"We went to the reception together, and my! what 
a crowd. The whole house was packed and people 
were standing in the yard. Johnny shook hands 
with everybody and talked to them, and he finally 
made a speech, which I didn't hear because there 
were so many people around. John Pershing always 
did have talent." 

Besides being brave. General Pershing is a wit. 
This good story, by Ivan H. Epperson, shows he is 
well able to take care of himself. 

"He was invited to a stag dinner party one evening 
where a jolly story-telling lot of good fellows was to 
be present and he went primed with his best stories, 
a memorandum in his vest pocket to aid him in telling 
them. The memorandum was accidently dropped on 
the floor and was picked up by one of his friends, 
who immediately saw what it was and decided to 
have his little joke at the General's expense. The 
finder got an opportunity to spring the first story 
and promptly started off with the first story on the 



122 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

list. Pershing said nothing and laughed — he always 
does when a good story is told, and makes you laugh 
too — but when the second one of his list was told he 
felt in his pocket for the memorandum and discovered 
its loss. A few minutes later the General, after a 
consultation with a waiter, announced that he had 
just received a message which would require his 
absence for a few minutes on important business. 

"Jumping into a car he was hurried to a hotel. 
From the clerk he secured the names of half a dozen 
travelling men — drummers — who were stopping there 
and announced that he wanted to see these men at 
once on important business. The drummers responded 
and in twenty minutes the General was back at the 
banquet, before the coffee had been poured, with a 
new stock of yarns. Then ensued a battle royal be- 
tween the two famous story-tellers, much to the 
amusement of the guests, until his friend played out 
the string and left the General victor in the humor- 
ous contest. 

''Just at this juncture one of the drummers, made 
up as a police officer, arrived, arrested the joker, 
searched him and found the General's memorandum, 
which he exposed to the hilarious guests with the 
significant comment : 

" 'General Pershing has really been the only enter- 
tainer this evening, but lots of people are making 
reputations with the public on the General's ideas/ " 

A friend of General Pershing, who has known 
him many years says this of Missouri's greatest 
soldier : 

"You should meet him at a dinner party and listen 
to his stories. You should stand with him before 



John J. Pershing, 1860- 123 

his tent in the field, in the sunshine— he loves the 
sunshine and the wide out-of-doors — and hear him 
tell stories of campaigning at his best. You should 
meet this big man with the heart of a little child, 
this man who, by befriending his enemies has made 
them his companions, this man who stands up erect 
and faces the horrors of disaster with a smile, while 
he prays in his heart for the relief of the sufferers/ " 



EDWARD HEMPSTEAD, 1770-1817 



First Delegate to Congress from Missouri Territory 

TXyHEN Upper Louisiana was ceded by France to 
^ ^ the United States in 1804, hundreds of Ameri- 
cans came to- the new land. Missouri was a part of 
Upper Louisiana and had nearly all the white popula- 
tion. At this time Missouri had only about 10,000 
persons, who lived along the west bank of the Missis- 
sippi River. There were a few 
towns but they were mere villages. 
The people spoke French and were 
of French blood. They were a 
peaceful, happy people who loved 
their customs, plays and their life 
here in the West. In 1804, however, 
the Americans came in from the 
Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and 
the two Carolinas, and a few from 
the old states of Pennsylvania, New 
York and Connecticut. 

Among these new-comers or im- 
migrants was a man a little over 
thirty years old, poor but able. He had left his home 
in Connecticut miles away, and traveled by horse- 
back to Indiana. From Indiana he walked to Mis- 
souri with all his personal property tied in a bundle, 
which he carried on his back. This was the manner 
in which Edward Hempstead, our first Delegate in 
Congress, came to his adopted home, Missouri. 




EDWARD 

HEMPSTEAD 

(From Louis 

Houck's "History 

of Missouri.") 



(124) 



Edward Hempstead, 1770-1817. 125 

Born in Connecticut on June 3, 1770, he was a 
boy when the Revolutionary War opened. Together 
with that great Connecticut patriot, Nathan Hale, 
his father and uncles fought for American freedom, 
but the education of young Edward was not neg- 
lected. He had private teachers and later studied 
law. He became a lawyer and spent three years in 
Rhode Island, where Roger Williams had founded his 
colony for religious freedom nearly two hundred 
years before. 

On coming to Missouri in 1804, then called Upper. 
Louisiana, Hempstead first settled at St. Charles on 
the Missouri River. He later moved to St. Louis 
where he made his home for years. While out riding 
one day he was thrown from his horse and died from 
the effects of the fall on August 10, 1817, a little over 
forty-seven years of age. 

During his short life in Missouri, Edward Hemp- 
stead held several important public offices. He was 
first Deputy Attorney-General for the large districts 
of St. Louis and St. Charles and then became At- 
torney-General for all Upper Louisiana. In 1812 
when the name of Louisiana Territory was changed 
to Missouri Territory, he was elected Delegate to 
Congress from 1812 to 1814 — ^the first man west of 
the Mississippi River to hold this office. Afterwards 
he went upon several expeditions against the Indians 
and was a captain. He was elected to the Missouri 
Territorial General Assembly and was leader or 
Speaker in the House of Representatives. 

Edward Hempstead was a man of ability, pure and 
honest, and his death was deeply lamented. His 
great work in Congress will always be remembered. 



126 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

In this work he was aided by his friend, Thomas. F. 
Riddick, a prominent citizen of St. Louis. Every 
schoolboy and girl should know the story of Riddick 
and Hempstead. These two men were the real ''Fath- 
ers of Education'' in Missouri. 

For many years the towns and the villages in 
Missouri owned great tracts of land which every- 
body could use to cultivate or to pasture his horses 
and cattle. These tracts were called commonfields 
or commons, and each village owned its commons 
just like today towns own parks. No one man could sell 
his part because the commons belonged to all the 
people. Most of these old Missouri French villages 
also owned many lots inside the villages. In those 
days land and lots were cheap and nobody paid much 
attention to these commons and village-lots except 
to use them. 

When the Americans came in 1804, life changed 
in the old French towns. Business boomed and 
everybody bought land and lots cheap. Some Ameri- 
cans bought not to farm the land or build houses 
but in order to later sell high and make money as 
more people moved to Missouri. These men were 
called land speculators. They didn't do Missouri 
very much good, for they were really land grabbers. 
It began to look like they would even get some of 
these French villages to sell the large common-fields 
and village-lots. 

There were some Americans, however, who deter- 
mined this should not happen. Missouri had no pub- 
lic schools in those days, and these few good Ameri- 
cans thought it would be wise to have a law passed 
by Congress giving these common-fields and village- 



Edward Hempstead, 1770-1817. 127 

lots to these towns forever to rent out for the support 
of public schools. Of course, the land was worth 
little then, but it would be very valuable some day. 

The leader of this scheme, a man who loved educa- 
tion and public schools, was Thomas F. Riddick. 
He told his friends that the commons in St. Louis, 
then a town of only several hundred persons, would 
some day be worth thousands of dollars. Riddick 
said that St. Louis would become a large city and 
wanted her to have plenty of money to spend for 
education. 

Of course, the big land speculators knew Riddick 
was right but they wanted the commons and village- 
lots for themselves. So they bitterly opposed Rid- 
dick's scheme. 

Edward Hempstead had gone to Washington City 
as a Delegate and was trying to have Congress 
pass the law he and Riddick wanted. Hempstead 
was not given a vote in Congress because he was 
only a Delegate and not a full Congressman, but he 
could talk before Congress, and he did. 

For a while it looked like the land speculators would 
defeat Hem.pstead, so Riddick mounted a horse and 
traveled alone all the way to Washington, six hundred 
and ninety miles from St. Louis. And he did this 
at his own expense. Together these two unselfish 
men had the law passed. Today the value of these 
lands owned by just one of these old towns, the City 
of St. Louis, is millions of dollars. This was the 
great work done by Hon. Edward Hempstead and 
the public spirited Thomas F. Riddick, a work every 
Missourian should be proud of and whose authors 
should ever be honored. 



RUFUS EASTON, 1774-1834 



Second Delegate to Congress From Missouri Territory 

CONNECTICUT, gave Missouri her first two Del- 
egates in Congress, Edward Hempstead and Ru- 
fus Easton. The latter was born in 1774, a year be- 
fore the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill were 

fought. Young Eas- 
ton received a good 
education and studi- 
ed law when only 
seventeen years old. 
He became a good 
lawyer and prac- 
ticed in Connecti- 
cut and New York. 
When he was 
thirty years of age 
he moved in 1804 
to St. Louis in Up- 
per Louisiana, or 
Missouri as it was 
later called. He be- 
came the first post- 
master of St. Louis 
and held other public offices. He was a judge, United 
States attorney, from 1814 to 1816 Delagate from 
Missouri Territory in Congress, and from 1821 to 1826 
Attorney-General for the State of Missouri. In all of 
these high positions Easton preformed his duties well, 
both to the credit of himself and Missouri. 




RUFUS EASTON 
From Walter B.Stevens' 

The Center State.") 



Missouri 



(128) 



RUFUS Easton, 1774-1834. 129 

Rufiis Easton was Missouri's second Delegate to 
Congress. Like Edward Hempstead, he did not have 
the right to vote but he did have the right to speak 
on the floor of Congress. He was an able orator 
and a convincing speaker. He performed one great 
thing while in Congress. This was the passage of a 
law in 1815 settling what was called the New Madrid 
earthquake claims. 

Beginning in 1811 all Southeast Missouri, lying 
along the Mississippi River, was shaken with earth- 
quake shocks. The earthquake was terrible. It 
began at midnight and not only destroyed houses and 
fences, but killed persons and cattle. People fled 
from their homes into the black night and some were 
swallowed up in the big fissures or ditches that the 
earthquake made. Some of these fissures were many 
feet wide and deeper than wells, with water at the 
bottom. All nature seemed to be in battle against 
the monster force of the earthquake. The land was 
shaken like a blanket and the fields rolled like the 
waves of the ocean. Hills were made where before 
it had been level, and long lakes were formed where 
there had been tall forests. Even the Mississippi 
River rocked its waters like in a tempest. People 
prayed and tried to escape. Few were killed but all 
who lived feared to stay where the ruin had been. 
Their farms were destroyed and their homes were 
wrecked. The earthquake would last a few minutes 
, and then return in a month or two. This was kept 
up for several years, the shocks lessening in force. 
The center of the shocks was in the New Madrid 
district but the effects were felt for miles up and 
down the river. 



130 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

The poor settlers asked Congress to help them 
and Rufus Easton presented their claims. The United 
States Government then owned millions of acres of 
land in Missouri Territory. Easton asked the govern- 
ment to give the New Madrid people new land located 
elsewhere in Missouri in exchange for their ruined 
farms. These were called the New Madrid claims, 
some of which were very hard to settle. Congress 
finally passed a law settling the New Madrid claims 
and many of these early Southeast Missouri people 
settled along the Missouri River and in the great 
Boone's Lick country, where are today the counties 
of Howard, Boone, Callaway and others. Rufus 
Easton did a great piece of work for Missouri when 
he had this law passed. His name should be remem- 
bered by all who love the history and people of this 
state. 

Great as he was as a lawmaker or Delegate to 
Congress, he was even greater as a lawyer. In those 
days, a hundred years ago, Hon. Rufus Easton was 
looked upon as one of the ablest and most learned 
lawyers in Missouri. He had many clients and made 
much money practicing law. His mind was well 
trained and he could express himself clearly and to 
the point. He was a strong debater and was a 
hard man to defeat in a lawsuit. 

He had a kind heart and gave much of his time 
and money to help the poor. Many a young man who 
wanted to become a lawyer studied in Easton's office. 
He liked company and with his wife frequently en- 
tertained his friends. Few strangers of note visited 
St. Louis without being invited to his home. He 



RUFUS Easton, 1774-1834. 131 

was very absent-minded and once this caused him 
great embarresment. 

He had invited a v^idely known general of the 
army, who was on a visit to St. Louis, to dine with 
him on a certain day at three o'clock. The officer 
came promptly on the hour, but the family had al- 
ready dined. Easton at the time was writing in 
his office and had entirely forgotten the invitation 
and had not even told Mrs. Easton a word about it. 

Colonel Easton, as he was often called, was a 
man of fine appearance. He was greatly admired 
for his ability, honesty and goodness. Unlike most 
public men and lawyers of his day, Colonel Easton 
hated and detested the duel. In those days if a 
man felt that another had insulted him, he would 
send a note challenging the other to fight with him. 
They fought usually with pistols, and many a brave 
man was killed over some small thing he had said 
or done. Of course, today the duel is not allowed 
by the law. Colonel Easton thought it was a foolish 
and wdcked thing. One day Colonel Easton was 
challenged by the Hon. John Scott to fight a duel 
because Scott had heard that Easton had said some-, 
thing about him. Colonel Easton refused in these 
words : 

"I don't want to kill you, and if you were to kill 
me, I would die as a fool dieth." 

Hon. Rufus Easton moved to St. Charles in later 
life and died there on July 5, 1834. His grave is in 
Lindenwood cemetery. 



JOHN SCOTT, 1782-1861 
Missouri's First Congressman 

FEW public men in Missouri have had more interest- 
ing stories told about them than the Hon. John 
Scott, the man who challenged Colonel Rufus Easton. 
Unlike Colonel Easton, Scott approved the duel. 
Taking offense at some newspaper article printed 
against him, Scott challenged five men one day, before 
breakfast. Not one of the duels was fought, but it 
wasn't because John Scott refused. He was a fear- 
less man and was deeply loved by many. As a lawyer, 
for all public men in those days practiced law, Scott 
was one of the best in Missouri. His personal in- 
fluence over a jury was wonderful. Once he defended 
a man who was in the wrong. Everybody knew the 
man had done what he was accused of, but somehow 
contrary to all the evidence and proof the jury 
brought in a verdict for Scott's client and the man 
was freed. One of the jurors was asked how in the 
world he could do such a thing. The juror innocently 
replied : "Didn't John Scott tell us to bring in a ver- 
dict that way?" 

There are a dozen stories like this about this re- 
markable lawyer. 

Bom in Virginia in 1782, he received a fine college 
education at Princeton University. His father was 
a weaver and moved to Pennsylvania and then to 
Indiana. John Scott helped his father rear his large 
family. While in Indiana he taught school, studied 
law and became a lawyer. He came to Missouri in 

(132) 



John Scott, 1782-1861. 133 

1805 and was the first lawyer to permanently settle 
in Ste. Genevieve, the oldest town in Missouri. He 
soon became the leading lawyer in his part of the 
country, and in the 1817 election defeated Colonel 
Rufus Easton as Missouri's Territorial Delegate to 
Congress. He was re-elected and when Missouri 
became a state in 1820, he was elected Missouri's 
first Congressman. He was re-elected several times 
and was finally defeated by a brilliant young lawyer 
named Edward Bates. Scott was defeated because 
in the presidential election of 1824 he had voted for 
John Quincy Adams for president of the United 
States and against General Andrew Jackson, some- 
times called "Old Hickory." ''Old Hickory" was very 
popular in Missouri because he was a brave man, 
a good soldier and honest. He was a Tennessean 
and was loved by the West. His victory over the 
British at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 and 
his battles with the Indians, made him a popular 
hero. John Scott thought, however, that Adams was 
a better man and so he voted for him when the 
election was held in Congress. So in 1824 Missouri 
really elected the President of the United States, for 
the votes were so even that if Scott had voted for 
Jackson, Adams would have been defeated. This 
vote of Scott's, however, defeated him the next 
election, but he had then served nearly ten years in 
Congress. 

As soon as he was out of office, Scott again took 
up the practice of law. He was a great lawyer and 
had many clients. One of these was a man known all 
over the West. 



134 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

He had come from Tennessee and he called him- 
self ''John Smith T." The 'T" stood for Tennessee. 
He said he had to do this because there were so many 
John Smiths in Missouri. John Smith T. was a 
character. He was tall, slender and wiry; mild and 
courteous in manners; but terrible when angered. 
He had fought many duels and always killed his 
rival. He was fearless, cool, and a fine shot. He 
even had two slaves to make his pistols and rifles for 
him, the best in the West. Whereever he went he 
was always well armed. John Smith T. had some 
trouble with John Perry, of Washington county. 
One day, while Perry was on his way to Ste. Gene- 
vieve, he was overtaken by Smith, who told him that 
he regretted any trouble with him, and that they were 
now alone and could settle the matter, saying that he 
had a couple of friends (meaning his pistols) with 
him. 

'There, take your choice, Mr. Perry," said Smith. 

Mr. Perry politely thanked him, and refused the 
offer, as he had special business to see to at Ste. 
Genevieve in person. Smith said that he regretted 
that their trouble could not be settled in this sensible 
way (meaning a duel). After that, however, the 
two travelled on together to Ste. Genevieve, talking 
on different matters like old friends. 

John Smith T. once became involved in trouble 
for which he cam.e verj^ close to being hanged, and 
if it had not been for the Hon. John Scott such would 
have been the case. One day Smith came to Ste. 
Genevieve and stopped at an inn kept by Mrs. Mc- 
Arthur. While drinking with another man, named 



John Scott, 1782-1861. 135 

Ball, a quarrel started and Smith killed Ball. They 
were at that time the only persons in the bar-room. 
Mrs. McArthur, a brave woman, hearing the shot, 
came in and saw Ball lying dead on the floor. She 
demanded the pistols Smith held in his hand. Smith 
gave them to her and said : "Take them, my daughter." 
He was arrested and put in jail. Of course, he em- 
ployed his friend, John Scott, to defend him. So 
well did Scott plead with the jury that John Smith 
T. was freed. 

Hon. John Scott was queer looking. He was of 
short stature, his complexion clear and healthy, his 
walk rapid, and was quick in all his movements. In 
later years he wore his long white hair in a queue, 
which fell gracefully over his shoulders, and at times 
was fastened in a bunch and kept together with a 
comb. At court, as well as at other places, he wore 
on one side of his breast a beautiful carved dirk or 
dagger, and on the other side a pistol, both of which 
he carried to his death from habit. Even on his 
death-bed, in 1861, when nearly eighty years old, 
he arose one day and grabbing a pistol, yelled : ''Show 
me the man who wants to destroy this Government." 
He was very eccentric and frequently indulged in 
profanity. He could hardly say a sentence without 
uttering an oath. This was only a habit with him 
but a very bad habit, which many times greatly 
embarrassed him in the presence of ladies. 

While in Congress he had passed the law that per- 
mitted Missouri to adopt a state constitution and 
become a state in the Union. He also persuaded 
Congress to give Missouri many thousands of acres 
of land for public schools, a State university, and a 



136 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

place to build a capitol. He was a believer in educa- 
tion and public schools. In fact, all the big men of 
Missouri were lovers of education. John Scott was 
also one of the forty-one men, called the ''Fathers 
of the State," who framed Missouri's first constitu- 
tion. He wrote the part of that constitution that 
provided for free public schools and a State university. 

Hon. John Scott was a brave and honest man. In 
attending courts in different counties he rode on 
horseback. His saddle was covered with sheep skin 
and upon that was placed a pair of large saddle bags, 
filled with books and papers. He traveled this way 
several times to Washington City, and also over a 
great extent of country. No weather stopped him and 
nothing prevented him from crossing creeks and 
rivers. While on his travels over the country he 
was often given large sums of money to hand to 
other persons. He never touched this money even 
when sometimes he found himself without a dollar in 
his own pocket. In attending court he always carried 
a green bag, filled with papers and books. He even 
carried this bag with him to the table. Some of the 
lawyers in those early days also carried green bags, 
among whom was the great Edward Bates. 

In 1861, the Hon. John Scott died at his home in 
Ste. Genevieve. He was greatly beloved, highly 
regarded and respected by all. 



DAVID BARTON, 1783-1837 

Little Red 

Missouri's First United States Senator 

SEVERAL years after Missouri was admitted to 
the Union in 1821, an old pioneer from the west- 
ern part of the state went to Washington City to look 
after some business. He knew Missouri's Congress- 
man and her two United States Senators, so one day 
he visited the Senate chamber to listen to the debates. 
The chamber was crowded for everybody had heard 
that there would be a great speech delivered against 
Andrew Jackson, "Old Hickory." Even the galleries 
were full and hundreds of persons stood in the aisles 
and doorways. The old frontier backwoodsman from 
Missouri finally forced himself in. There he stood 
with head high and erect above the others, clad in his 
homespun clothes. The speaking and debating began. 
The orator, who had the floor, was a Missouri Senator 
and the old pioneer knew and loved him. The speech 
was wonderful, full of wit and sarcasm, pathos and 
story. It swept the audience off its feet. Sometimes 
funny and again bitter, it aroused the crowd. The 
old pioneer could hardly hold himself in, and finally 
shouted at the top of his voice, '*Go it. My Little 
Red! Go it. My Little Red!" Everybody looked at 
the tall, fearless Missourian, but he didn't notice 
them. When the speech was over, and the crowd 
was struggling to. leave, he called out again and 
again at the top of his voice, which was heard 
above everything: 

(137) 



138 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

''Hurrah for my little Red!" 

''Hurrah for my Little Red!'' 

These sudden shouts astonished and for a moment 
startled everybody in the Senate chamber. The eyes 
of all were directed to this strange man, dressed so 
queerly. Even after he had left the Capitol build- 
ing, and was on the streets, he kept yelling, again 
and again, at the highest pitch of his powerful voice : 

"Hurrah for the Little Red!" 

Many thought the man was insane. When asked 
by some one why he said this, he explained that he 
was from western Missouri, and that he had indulged 
in the sport of fighting chickens. He said that one 
time he had owned a little red rooster, which could 
whip any chicken that could bfe brought against it, 
and that when he saw that United States Senator 
from Missouri, an old friend of his, "putting his 
licks into them fellers in the Senate, and bringing 
them down at every flutter," it reminded him of his 
old cock-fighting days, when his little red rooster 
used to clean out everything in the ring. So he 
yelled again, "Hurrah for my Little Red!" 

The United States Senator, "Little Red" as he 
was afterward called by many, was David Barton, 
Missouri's United States Senator from 1820 to 1830. 

Born in North Carolina on December 14, 1783, 
David Barton was reared on a farm. He received a 
college education and then studied law. Coming 
to Missouri in 1812 he soon attracted attention by his 
ability as a lawyer and made many friends. He 
fought against the Indians in Missouri and in a few 
years was appointed circuit judge. He was the first 



David Barton, 1783-1837. 



139 




DAVID BARTON 

(From Floyd C. Shoemaker's "Missouri's Struggle For State- 
hood.") 



140 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

circuit judge to hold court west of the Mississippi 
River. In 1818 he was Speaker (presiding officer) 
of the Missouri Territorial House of Representatives 
and in 1820 was elected president of Missouri's first 
constitutional convention, composed of forty-one 
delegates. These forty-one men or "Fathers of the 
State," framed and adopted Missouri's first constitu- 
tion in 1820. David Barton perhaps wrote more of 
that constitution than any other man. 

When Missouri became a state in 1820, a year be- 
fore she was admitted to the Union, Judge David 
Barton, as he was called, was the most beloved public 
man here and was elected Missouri's first United 
States Senator. He held this high office with credit 
to himself and his people, for ten years. He also 
brought about the election of his friend, Thomas H. 
Benton, to the United States Senate in 1820, but in 
1824 Benton became his enemy because Barton had 
voted for Adams for President of the United States 
instead of voting for Jackson. In 1830 Barton was 
defeated for re-election but held other public offices, 
being elected once to the State Senate of Missouri. 

Judge Barton was able and honest. He was not so 
well versed in the law as Rufus Easton, but was a 
much better speaker. He had the power to move 
a jury or a crowd, could deliver off-hand an after 
dinner speech or a public address. His personal 
magnetism was wonderful, and his voice was soft 
and well controlled. He was a master of sarcasm 
and wit, and could tell stories that made his audience 
laugh one minute and cry the next. 

He was usually grave and sedate. He always 
spoke in simple language and short sentences. His 



David Barton, 1783-1837. 141 

gestures were few and he carried his point by the 
force of his reasoning. He could explain a difficult 
problem until it seemed simple. He was a small man, 
of low stature, with broad shoulders and high fore- 
head, and an intellectual face. Although he did not 
have a fine education, he had a good command of 
language. 

Many stories are told about Judge Barton and his 
love of a joke. 

Upon one occasion he was arguing a question of 
law before the Supreme Court, when Judge Tomkins 
said: 

''Stop, Mr. Barton. Do you call that law?" 
''No, may it please Your Honor," replied Mr. Bar- 
ton, respectfully bowing, ''but I did not know but 
that the court would take it for law," 

An old friend and great admirer of Judge Barton, 
who was about to get married while Barton was 
judge, insisted upon Judge Barton coming to the 
wedding and performing the ceremony, as he was 
authorized by law to do. Barton attended the wed- 
ding, and performed the ceremony after his manner: 
The parties being present, stood up on the floor, where 
all the guests were assembled. The Judge asked, 
"John Smith, do you take Lucy Jones to be your 
wife?" He answered, "1 do." *'Lucy Jones, do you 
take John Smith to be your husband?" she answered, 
"I do." The Judge then said, 'The contract is com- 
plete. I pronounce you man and wife." 

Judge Barton esteemed men for their own and 
not their ancestral merits. Once, at a public table 
in old Franklin, Judge S , of old Virginia, was 



142 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

fluentlj^ exhibiting his pride of ancestry, as only a 
Virginian can, when Judge Barton, who sat some 
distance off, turned to an acquaintance opposite, and 
addressing him in a tone loud enough to be heard 
by all, said: 

•'Bill, do j^ou know^ my horse. Pomp?" 

"Oh, yes," replied Bill. 

"Well, sir, he is the finest horse in the United 
States. I have tried him under the saddle, and I have 
tried him to the carriage; I have tried him in the 
plow and I have tried him in the wagon; and in 
none of these places is he worth a whoop! But he 
is the finest horse in the United States. It is in the 
blood, sir, it is all in the blood!" 

Judge Barton was by no means tidy in dress, and 
when visiting among friends, carried with him no 
extra clothing — not even a change of shirt. On one 
occasion, in Boone county, a friend with whom he 
was stopping brought him a clean shirt, which he 
took into an adjoining room to put on. The gar- 
ment had a cottom back and a linen bosom, and this 
struck Barton's sense of propriety. He at first 
hesitated about putting it on at all, but then concluded 
to put it on back in front. Having effected the change 
he came out adjusting the colar, and said: "Look 
here, Mr. Black, this shirt is a big fraud, and I 
don't mean to be a party in it." 

Judge Barton, while on the bench, lived for a time 
at old Franklin, and held one of his courts there. 
In the same place lived an old magistrate by the 
name of Cole, for whom Cole county was named. 
Esquire Cole was a great admirer of Judge Barton. 



David Barton, 1783-1837. 143 

Upon one occasion, while the Judge was holding the 
court in an old log house, it was raining very hard 
and the roof leaked, and the rain came dripping 
down upon the judge. Esquire Cole saw it, and 
climbed up in the loft and attempted to turn the 
leak. In doing so a board dropped from his hand, 
and he commenced swearing. The Judge directed the 
clerk to enter a fine of $1 against Esquire Cole for 
contempt of court in swearing in his presence. This 
offended the Esquire very much, and a few days 
afterwards the Judge was passing the house where 
the Esquire was holding his court. Cole called him 
in, saying: 

"I want to tell you how I have decided a case, 
and I want your opinion upon it," stating the case. 

Judge Barton replied : ''You are nothing but a big 
fool." 

"I fine you $5, Judge, for swearing in my court," 
said Esquire Cole. 

The Judge laughed, acknowledged the hit, and their 
friendship was renewed. 

^ Judge Barton spent the latter year of his short 
life at Boonville. He was never married and in his 
last daj's his mind became clouded and eventually he 
went insane. He died on September 28, 1837, and 
was buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery. The State 
of Missouri honored him by erecting a monument 
over his grave in 1853. This monument is now- 
placed on the campus of the University of Missouri, 
and a larger, finer, marble shaft was placed over the 
grave in Boonville. 



144 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

Judge Barton was a great and honest man, an 
eloquent orator, and an able public servant No 
man was more loved in Missouri in 1820 than David 
Bart«n, and when he died in 1837 his friends were 
many. 



THOMAS HART BENTON, 1782-1858 

The Greatest Statesman of the West 

TIT' HEN gold was discovered in California, men 
^^ from all parts of the world rushed to the new 
ElDorado. Fortunes were made in a few weeks. Many 
Missourians crossed the plains and mountains to 
become wealthy. Among these was a man from St. 
Louis, named Colonel John Wilson. The story of 
John Wilson is now almost forgotten. 

Colonel Wilson was a bitter enemy of Missouri's 
statesman. Senator Thomas Hart Benton. One day 
Colonel Wilson came to Washington, D. C, and 
asked the great New England Senator, Daniel Webs- 
ter, for a letter of introduction to some prominent 
person in California. 

''I am an old man and very poor," said Colonel 
Wilson, ''and want to make money in California. 

"But I know no big man there," replied Mr. Web- 
ster. "Senator Benton has many friends on the 
Pacific coast and his son-in-law. General Fremont, 
almost controls California. Let me ask Senator 
Benton for such a letter for you." 

"Do you not know that Benton and I have Deen bit- 
ter enemies for thirty years? That I hate him and he 
hates me?" replied Colonel Wilson. 

"I know all that," said Mr. Webster, "but we are 
all getting old and Senator Benton will be happy now 
to help you. He feels that age is coming upon him 
and he wants to make friends with his bitterest 
foes." 

(145) 



At^i>r much ov^v\m^\ v'olouol W lU^ou iM\>n\\Si\l to 
h«nd the tVUowuvv: uott> to S^i\«t\>r Hentor 

I tiK»\x v«kt wmr ^Winnieb wuh (;Uc bcA^tv vv( nUu* »\ot^» VVI. Jv>lvn 

v\Hi; txK»w oti;vKsi\. avkI \v»u CAU vlo \.\»Uvx\el \\'vUvM\ uwuh ^\H^i^ 
I h4vt twUl ^VUvtxrl \ViUM\ that \\H» w\U l>t )i^*^^ ^^* ^^'fU^ ^^^<^^ *^*^^ *^*^ 
^\vip A«<1 t\H^t< vvur j>«5^t v(«»rvi&l*v I h»\if j>«pv^w»vttp<l him t\> ^fAtiy lUl« 

Colono! Wili-ou violivoiwi il\o uv^o ^uui was u\ot :ii 
tho dovV by Senator IVutou hinis^olf* Ho t^v^U (.\^1 
ouol Wilson l\v both handvS and said; "Wilson. I 
am glad to stv you: this is ti\o l\apoiost niootinvi* 
I ha\^> had for tlurty yonvs. iiiN\' n\o your \\:u\d. 
Wob^tor ha^ doi^o n\o tho kindost tiuuv^- ho o\ or divi 
in his lito," 

Seiiator Benton led (.'olor.ol \\ilson dirovtl\ to tho 
dinin^-iwm. whoro ho u\ot ^Irs. InMtton. and thoy 
all had snppor to^voth.or. Finally. Sonator Uonton 
said: 

**You and I. ^^ r.SvM\ havo boon ^\uarrolin>v t'ln* 
thirty years, \\"o r.:ivo boon ^-alliu.c oach othor ba^i 
name^. but ivally wo b^nh. :;ad rosiwt t"or oa^-h othor. 
It has boon a foolish ti^ht, aitd lots wipo it out o{ 
our minds. Kvorything that I havo said about > ou 
I ask your v^ardon for." 

Then Cokniel Wilson askod InMUon's pardon and 
they iH^came jiwd friends. riu\v talked over old tintos 
until the clock struck tho hour of nrldnig-ht. Nothing- 
was said abotit thio letter. 

The next mornin>:'. Senator Kenton canto to Colonel 
WilsoT\'s room and said: 



Thomas HapwT Benton, 1782-1858. 147 

''Wilson, I have prepared some letters for you to 
my son-in-law and other friends in California." 

And the letters covered nine pages of writing ask- 
ing all his friends in California to do ever>i:hing 
they could for "His dearest friend, Colonel John 
Wilson, of St. Louis/' 

Senator Thomas H. Benton was not only a good 
man, but a great man. Born in the hill country of 
North Carolina on March 14, 1782, he was reared on 
a farm. His mother was a widow but gave her son 
a good college education. Young Benton read and 
practiced law in Tennessee and served a term in the 
state Senate. He quarreled with Andrew Jackson, 
called "Old Hickory,'' who was a very popular man, 
and came to Missouri about 1816. 

He published a newspaper in St. Louis for several 
years, called the Enquirer. This was the second 
paper west of the Mississippi River. In 1817 he 
fought a duel with another young lawyer, Charles 
Lucas, and killed him. He always regretted this 
and never spoke of this duel again to his closest 
friends. 

When Missouri became a state in 1820, she elected 
two United States Senators. One of these was David 
Barton, the other Thomas H. Benton. The election 
of Benton to this high office is interesting. 

The law-making body of Missouri, called the Gener- 
al Assembly, had the power of electing two United 
States Senators. There were fifty-two law-makers 
voting. It took a majority, or one more than half 
of these fifty-two, to elect. Barton's election was 
assured, but Benton had only twenty-six votes prom- 



148 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 








N 



THOMAS HART BENTON, 1782-1858. 149 

ised him and needed one more. A French-Missourian, 
named Leduc, was going to vote against Benton. 
Some of Barton's friends, however, finally persuaded 
Leduc to help Benton. The election was held Monday 
afternoon at 3 o'clock October 2, 1820. One of 
Benton's voters, Daniel Ralls, was sick in bed. Four 
stout negroes carried Ralls into the place where the 
General Assembly was voting and he voted for Benton. 
He died in a few hours and Ralls county was named 
in his honor. 

When Senator Benton took his seat in the United 
States Senate he was soon looked upon as a great man. 
He was an orator and a debater. Standing six feet 
tall, with large head and massive body, he typified 
the bold, fearless spirit of Missouri and the West. 
His voice was rich and far-reaching. He was honest 
and faithful to the people. Benton went to the 
Senate poor, and came out poor; not a dollar passed 
through his hands that was not honestly earned. 
He woud not even have a relative of his appointed 
to office. He was a hard worker and in his thirty 
years as Senator, he never had a clerk or copyist. 

To Thomas H. Benton, Missouri and the West 
owe more than to any other statesman. He fought 
for her with courage and honor in the Senate for 
thirty years. He stood for sound money. He op- 
posed whipping for crimes and imprisonment for 
debt. He fought for cheap land for the pioneers, 
and had a law passed selling the public lands at one 
dollar and a quarter an acre. He favored the 
building of railroads and encouraged the first one 
to be built to the Pacific Coast, In a great speech 



150 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

at St. Louis he pointed out the riches of the West and 
the great trade this nation would have someday on the 
Pacific Ocean. Pointing to the setting sun, he closed 
his speech with these words, which are today written 
on his statute: 

"There is the East, there is India." 

He debated and pled for the Oregon country when 
few in America realized its importance. He, among 
a very few men of his day, saw the great future of 
the West. Speaking once in Boonville, he said that 
some day one of the great cities of this nation would 
built at the mouth of the Kaw River. That city is 
today, Kansas City. To him his country meant not 
his state or his section, but the entire United States. 
He did not work to hoard money, but to give the 
people a better and a bigger chance to live well. 
He was an author and his books are still read. 

In his private life he was pure and just. He loved 
his family, and adored his wife. Mrs. Benton was 
afflicted with paralysis and Senator Benton would 
take her in his arms like a child and carry her to 
the parlor to let her enjoy the society of his friends 
and visitors. He was master of his home, but was 
a kind husband and father, and a sociable companion. 
He often said that he was ''a home lamb and a 
street lion." Even in the midst of pressing public 
duties, he continued to instruct his children and 
grandchildren in French and Spanish. He played 
the guitar and was fond of good music. Like all 
good Missourians he enjoyed a big dinner, but once, 
being worried over some debate, he sat down at the 
table and forgot to carve. He kept biting what he 



Thomas Hart Benton, 1782-1858. 151 

thought was bread, until his daughter laughed and 
said: 

"Father, that's a claret cork you are trying to eat." 

He always stopped at the same hotel in his speaking 
campaigns over Missouri, even tho kept by one of the 
opposite political party. A friend once remonstrated 
with him for going to a hotel kept by a Whig, and 
he replied: 

''Sir, do you think Benton takes his politics in his 
stomach ?" 

He was once invited to share a bed in a crowded 
hotel but refused, saying: 

"Benton sleeps in the same bed with no man." 

He always rose at four o'clock in the morning and 
took a cold bath. He was thick skinned and had a 
negro servant curry him down to the hips in the 
morning with a stiff horse-hair brush, and from the 
hips to the feet in the afternoon. Being asked why 
he used such a brush which would have injured the 
skin of an ordinary person, he said: 

"The Roman gladiators did it , sir." 

His vanity and egotism were supreme and a friend 
told him his enemies made fun out of it. Benton 
replied : 

"Benton has an Ego, they have not." 

Many stories are told to illustrate the egotism of 
Thomas H. Benton. Perhaps the best known is his 
reply to a question as to the probably sale of his 
great work "Thirty Years in the United States Sen- 
ate." The printers asked him his view as to the 
number of copies they should publish of this work. 
Having presented the case to Senator Benton, he 
loftily replied: 



152 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

"Sir, you can ascertain how many persons there 
are in the United States who can read, sir." 

This was the only reply that he would make. He 
believed his book would be purchased by everybody 
who could read it. 

From early manhood to old age he was "a steam- 
engine in breeches.'' 

Someone asked him his age, and he said : 

"In years Benton is about sixty-eight; but if Ben- 
ton's country or Benton's friends want anything done, 
Benton is forty-five." 

On the street when anyone spoke to him, instead 
of turning his head, he always turned his whole 
body at right angle. His walk was more of a strut, 
and he always wore the double-breasted frock coat. 

In his speeches he never referred to himself as 
"I did this" or "I think this," but always as 
"Benton did this" or ''Benton thinks this." 

He never permitted anyone to introduce him to 
an audience. He usually drove or walked direct from 
his hotel to the place of speaking, mounted the plat- 
form and began his speech. He never began his 
speech like other orators with "Fellow-citizens" or 
"Ladies and Gentlemen" or "Friends," but always 
plain "Citizens." 

Once while speaking in old Bloomington, Macon 
county, Missouri, he had difficulty in making himself 
heard above the strong wind that was' blowing. 
Someone in the audience yelled: 

"Louder!" 

"Louder!" screamed Benton in a rage. "Are you 
so wanting in sense that you think Benton can throw 
his voice a mile against the Lord Almighty's wind?" 



Thomas Hart Benton, 1782-1858. 153 

Although he had no personal magnetism, he was 
striking in appearance. One day in the woods of 
Central Missouri a boy ran to his mother and told 
her he had just seen the President of the United 
States. The mother went out and saw passing along 
the road Senator Benton seated on a big horse. 

He was a reader of men and had much foresight 
in politics. He believed the common people wiser 
than most politicians. He believed in honesty in all 
thmgs and told the people the truth. This is why 
they kept sending him to the United States Senate 
for thirty years. During these years he was offered 
many important positions. President Jackson offered 
to make him Minister to Russia, President Polk 
offered to make him Minister to France, and Presi- 
dent Van Buren wanted him to be Secretary of War 
but he refused them all. 

Benton regarded himself and the people as one 
He often said: 

"Benton and the people, Benton and democracy 
one and the same always.'* 

He was beyond question a great man, his faults 
were mainly those of vanity and egotism, but his 
virtues and merits were many. 

As a public speaker he was remarkable for his 
great memory of facts and his ready wit. When he 
hated, he hated deeply. If a man was his enemy, he 
gave him no mercy. You were either Benton's 
friend or his enemy— you could not be on the fence 
This story is told on Senator Benton, which shows 
his bitter hatred as well as his ready wit: 



154 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

In a public speech, Senator Benton attacked the 
New York Tribune and its editors, Horace Greeley 
and Richelieu Robinson, both of whom were his 
enemies. 

''Horace Greeley," he said, ''wears a white hat, his 
hair is white and his skin is white and I give it to 
you as my candid opinion that his liver is the same 
color." 

Then Senator Benton turned his attention to 
Greeley's assistant, Richelieu Robinson. 

"Robinson is an Irishman, an Orange Irishman, 

a red-headed Irishman, and ," but seeing 

several red-headed men and women in his audience, 
he closed his comments thus: 

"When I say that Robinson is a red-headed Irish- 
man, I mean no disrespect to persons whose hair 
is of that color, I have been a close observer of 
men and affairs for forty years and I can on my 
veracity declare that I never knew a red-headed 
man who was not an honest man nor a red-headed 
woman who was not a good woman, and I give it 
as my candid opinion that had it not been for Robin- 
son's red hair he would have been hanged long ago." 

Upon one occasion a shrewd Yankee, while on a 
visit to Washington City, became somewhat reduced 
in his pocket-book and thought upon an odd plan 
to make money. He learned that in some part of 
Maryland there was a horse that had a most heavy 
coat of hair, long, shaggy and looking like wool. He 
bought him, brought him to Washington, and showed 
him under a tent within two blocks of Senator 
Benton's residence. Over the door of the tent was a 



Thomas Hart Benton, 1782-1858. 155 

large sign stating: "This woolly horse was caught 
in a wild state on the plains by General Fremont, 
and is the greatest living curiosity of the age. Ad- 
mittance 25 cents; children half-price." Thousands 
called to see the woolly horse captured by General 
Fremont, and the Yankee began to think that he had 
struck a gold mine, when out came a card from 
Colonel Benton denouncing it as a gross fraud. This 
only increased the public curosity to see the wonder- 
ful animal, and the tent was crowded from morning 
till night. The Senator could stand it no longer, and 
had the Yankee arrested and thrown into jail, and 
this put an end to the exhibition of the woolly horse. 

Senator Benton served Missouri thirty years in 
the United States Senate. He died on April 12, 1858, 
from the effects of cancer of the stomach. 

He was buried in St. Louis and forty thousand 
persons attended the funeral. Benton county, Mis- 
souri, was named in his honor. 

Senator Benton was generally referred to as ''Old 
Bullion." He was called this because of his fight for 
metal (or bullion) money, i. e., gold and silver. He was 
opposed to paper money because in those days so 
much paper money had been issued by hundreds of 
*'wild cat" banks that it was frequently not worth 
anything. Benton wanted metal or bullion money 
which always had value. As a result of Benton's 
position on the question, Missouri stood for metal 
money and has been called the ''Bullion State." 



LEWIS F. LINN, 1795-1843 

The Model Senator of Missouri 

npO be loved hx the citizens of his own state, to be 
-*- claimed as a senator of two, to be regarded as 
the father of another, and to be mourned in death by 
four, is the story of the life of Dr. Lewis F. Linn, 
"The Model Senator of Missouri." No man in 
Missouri history and few in the history of other 
states, has been so highly regarded or held in such 
esteem as this remarkable physician of Ste. Gene- 
vieve. He was loved as no other public man was of 
his day. He was fearless' and courageous. To him 
life meant service to his fellow men. No task was 
too hard, no peril too great, to daunt him. And 
under all conditions and at all times, he was a 
gentleman above reproach, courteous in manner, fair, 
honest and upright. He was a model man as well as 
a model senator. 

Born near Louisville, Kentucky, on November 5, 
1795, Lewis F. Linn was blessed with parents of 
high character. His father, Asael Linn, showed 
those courageous and sacrificing qualities that were 
later observed in his son, Lewis F. Linn. 

Even more remarkable was the mother of Lewis 
F. Linn. Her maiden name was Ann Hunter and she 
came of sturdy pioneer stock. Her first marriage 
was to Israel Dodge and their son was Henry Dodge. 
Henry Dodge lived in Missouri over twenty years, 
his home being at Ste. Genevieve. He was an Indian 
fighter of renown, an army officer, and was one of 

(156) 



Lewis F. Linn, 1795-1843. 157 

the forty-one "Fathers of the State," who framed 
Missouri's first constitution in 1820. He later 
became Governor of Wisconsin and then United 
States Senator from that state. Shortly after the 
birth of Henry Dodge, his mother was separated 
from Israel Dodge, and married Asael Linn. Ann 
Hunter thus became the mother of two United States 
Senators. Her grandchild, Augustus Caesar Dodge, 
son of Henry Dodge, also became a United States 
Senator from Iowa. 

Lewis F. Linn lost his father while still an infant 
and his mother died when he was only twelve years 
old. His guardian and guide was his half-brother, 
Henry Dodge, who then lived at Ste. Genevieve, Mis- 
souri. The deepest love existed between these two. 

Young Linn in early manhood showed an inclina- 
tion to become a doctor. He studied in Louisville, 
Kentucky, and Philadelphia. When the war with 
England in 1812 broke out, he acted as surgeon to the 
Missouri troops under the command of General Henry 
Dodge. His health which had become impaired 
by close study was soon restored and at the early 
age of twenty years he established himself as a 
physician in Ste. Genevieve. 

His services as a doctor were in demand all over 
Southeast Missouri. He possessed rare medical skill 
and kept up with the advances made in his profession 
by studying the latest books published on it. He 
practiced with unwearied devotion and derived the 
greatest pleasure in bringing relief to poor suffer^ 
ing humanity. He served the poor and the rich with 
the same zeal. The widow and orphan obtained his 



158 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 




LEWIS F. LINN 



Lewis F. Linn, 1795-1843. 159 

medicine and attention, although he knew they would 
never be able to pay him. In his home, Doctor Linn 
had a large chest filled with medicines which he 
called ''the closet for the poor." He gave from this 
to those unable to provide for themselves. One day, 
a wine merchant said to Mrs. Linn: 

"Does your family use all the wine your husband 
buys during the sick season? I should think you 
would have enough to bathe in, but I believe every 
drop of it goes to the sick who are not able to buy it 
for themselves." 

This was but one of the many excellent qualities of 
Doctor Linn. He was in demand everywhere and 
was frequently called to St. Louis to visit the sick. 
Night and day he watched over his patients and many 
times on returning home he was so exhausted as 
to require assistance. Such men are always loved. 
Doctor Linn was almost worshipped by the thousands 
whom he had served. 

In those days owing to lack of proper sanitation, 
the entire world was sometimes swept by a plague or 
epidemic that carried off millions of lives. One of 
these scourges was the dreaded Asiatic cholera. It 
had spread over Europe and Doctor Linn knew it 
would soon reach the people of the Mississippi Valley. 
He at once wrote to the eminent doctors in Europe, 
asking them how the epidemic should be met and 
what precaution should be taken. Doctor Linn pre- 
ferred if possible to prevent the disease instead of 
waiting until his people were on their death beds. 
As a result of this farsighted policy, when the Asiatic 
cholera appeared on the Atlantic coast. Doctor Linn 



160 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

published a pamphlet which he sent broadcast over 
Missouri and Illinois. This pamphlet told the history 
of this disease, its effect on a person, and told how 
it could be arrested in its progress and how lives 
could be saved. Owing to these investigations and 
counsels, the pestilence was stopped on both sides of 
the Mississippi River, and the loss of life was small 
compared with what it would have been. For years 
Doctor Linn received thousands of letters thanking 
him for what he had done for his fellow man in this 
one instance. Doctor Linn not only warned his people 
of the cholera, but he was willing to risk his life in 
helping them when attacked by it. 

One cold October morning in 1832 a gentleman 
came riding fast to the door of Doctor Linn's house 
and told him that a steamboat had left a stranger 
very ill on the bank of the river. The stranger was 
suffering intensly from cramps and cried for relief. 
No person would go near him, for all thought he was 
a victim of the cholera. 

*'Now, good Doctor Linn," said the gentleman, 
"if you decline doing anything for the stranger, no 
other person will go to aid him. It is dreadful to 
think of his dying on the cold, wet earth without 
any assistance and so many persons near him." 

Without hesitation, the Doctor replied that he 
would see the stranger. Looking with great love on 
his wife and children, he said: 

"My dear wife, the time is at hand when you must 
take the children and flee to the country to avoid this 
awful scourge. My duty is to remain here and do 
all I can for the sick." 



Lewis F. Linn, 1795-1843. 161 

Looking with affection on her noble and self-sacri- 
ficing husband, Mrs. Linn replied: 

'The time has indeed arrived when I also must 
do my duty. That duty is to stay with my blessed 
husband and help him all in my power in watching 
over and nursing the sick." 

Doctor Linn fondly embraced his wife, saying : 

''Such words are worthy of you, my beloved wife, 
and I should have expected them from you. Now 
let us make haste to do something for the suffering 
stranger whom God has entrusted to our keeping." 

In vain were all their efforts to get any person 
to bring the sick man to their house. The inhabit- 
ants of Ste. Genevieve were seized with a panic. 
They could not think of Doctor Linn going near the 
diseased person or that he should be brought to town. 
The Doctor, finding all his servants had left on hear- 
ing his intention, requested one of his students to help 
bear the patient in a blanket to his home. While 
they went to the river's bank, Mrs. Linn prepared 
a room for the stricken stranger, but she was inter- 
rupted by a number of persons who surrounded the 
house and begged her not to let her husband bear the 
sick man into their midst. She saw the people were 
wild with excitement and feared they might hurt 
Doctor Linn and his kind hearted student. Her fears 
were increased when she saw one of her own friends 
with a torch in his hand and heard him exclaim: 

"Mrs. Linn, let me see the Doctor turn the corner 
of that street and I will apply the torch to this office 
and burn it to its foundation," 

Another called out: 



162 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

''Let us tear down the house and save the com- 
munity from the pestilence." 

In vain Mrs. Linn attempted to reason with the 
crowd but it was useless. While talking with them, 
a colored boy informed her that Doctor Linn and 
the student were approaching, bearing the sick man. 
This struck the crowd with panic, which as if by 
magic scattered in every direction stricken with 
terror. When the Doctor arrived no one remained 
to prevent his entrance into his home. 

The sick stranger, whose name was Mr. Hamlin, 
received all the attention that could be given him, but 
the disease had gone too far, and death ended his 
suffering. The cholera soon broke out in Ste. Gene- 
vieve but owing to the tireless efforts of Dr. Linn, it 
was soon under control. The good people of the 
town never censured Doctor Linn for helping the 
dying stranger, because they knew he was risking 
his own life and those of his family more than the 
lives of others. They soon realized the kind deed he 
had performed when they had feared to do this them- 
selves. 

Doctor Linn was frequently urged by friends to 
become a candidate for Congress. His popularity 
would have made certain his election. He refused, 
however, saying that he had no political aspirations. 
Only once was he persuaded to serve one session in 
the Legislature of Missouri, and this for the purpose 
of passing a law beneficial to the southern part of 
the State. 

In 1833 at the early age of only thirty-eight years, 
his reputation as a physician had become so great 



Lewis F. Linn, 1795-1843. 163 

and the demands on his time were so constant that 
his health became impaired. His friends were alarm- 
ed and induced him to accept an appointment ten^ 
dered him by President Jackson to act as one of the 
three commissioners appointed to settle the old French 
land claims in Missouri. The change of work was 
beneficial to Doctor Linn, whose health was soon 
restored. In his work as land commissioner, "he gave 
satisfaction to all parties. In the same year he moved 
to St. Louis to better attend to his duties, and a 
month later the cholera again broke out in that city. 
Doctor Linn at once devoted himself night and day 
to helping the sick. His friends in Ste. Genevieve 
were also stricken and begged him to return to them. 
They declared ''that if mortal man could save them 
from the cholera, Doctor Linn could." Concealing 
from his family the cause of his departure, the 
Doctor left for Ste. Genevieve. On his arrival one of 
them said: 

'The very sight of Doctor Linn inspired hope and 
confidence and they felt he was like an angel of 
mercy come to restore health and happiness to them, 
thru the blessing of God." 

Taking little rest for twelve days and nights, the 
Doctor attended constantly to the sick and dying. 
At length he was seized with the scourge himself. 
Believing he would die, he sent for his wife. With 
great haste Mrs. Linn set out for Ste. Genevieve. 
The rains had made streams and rivers almost im- 
passible and Mrs. Linn had great difl^culty in her 
journey. Coming to the crossing of the Mississippi 
River, the ferryman refused to help her because the 



164 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

night was so dark and the river so rough. In her 
distress she exclaimed: 

''Is there no one here who for the love of the Bles- 
sed Virgin will assist me across the river to my 
dying husband?" 

Immediately a young girl arose from the bedside 
of one of the dying persons, and said: 

"Mrs. Linn, I will take you over if you will go in 
a skiff." 

Her father, the ferryman, objected. The young 
girl turned to her father and said: 

*'My father, do you not remember all that good Doc- 
tor Linn did for us when my mother died, and the great 
trouble he underwent when my brother, James, was 
so long sick, and that he never charged us for what 
he did? I cannot refuse to take his wife to him 
when he may be dying." 

"Go, Margaret," said her father, "and may the 
saints protect you." 

Mrs. Linn reached the bedside of her husband, 
who treated himself with turpentine bandages after 
other doctors had given him up. He recovered from 
his sickness and lived to serve his state and nation 
for ten years. 

The day before Doctor Linn was taken ill, Col. 
Alexander Buckner, one of Missouri's United States 
Senators, and his wife died of the cholera. Im- 
mediately many petitions from all South Missouri 
were sent to Governor Dunklin, urging him to ap- 
point Doctor Linn to fill the vacancy occasioned by 
the death of Colonel Buckner. A large number of 
Whigs signed these petitions, even tho Doctor Linn 



Lewis F. Linn, 1795-1843. 165 

was a Democrat. Before he had regained his health, 
Doctor Linn received notice of his appointment to 
the United States Senate. When the Missouri Legisla- 
ture met in 1834, Doctor Linn was unanimously 
elected to this office, was re-elected in 1836, and again 
in 1843. 

The election of Doctor Linn to the United States 
Senate greatly pleased him. It came unsolicited and 
as a token of the high esteem in which he was held 
by Missourians. He was the first and only man 
Missouri has sent to the United States Senate who 
had never been a politician, lawyer, or a soldier. 
Political foresight he had, however, to a marked 
degree. As early as 1823, when only twenty-eight 
years old, he had predicted the election of General 
Andrew Jackson as President of the United States. 
His political friends laughed at him and Judge Pope 
of Illinois remarked: 

"You never will be able to find seven votes in 
Missouri or Illinois that would sustain General Jack- 
son for that high office." 

Doctor Linn replied that he would be willing to 
pledge his life that before ten years had passed, 
no political man in Missouri or Illinois would De 
supported by the people who was not in favor of 
General Jackson for the presidency. In five years 
from that time, the Doctor's prediction was verified. 

As a statesman, Lewis F. Linn, attained even 
higher rank and performed even greater service to 
his state and nation than he had as a doctor. During 
the first few years in the United States Senate he 
rarely made a speech, but devoted his attentions to 



166 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

the private land claims of Missourians. In this he 
was successful, for of the many bills he presented 
he never lost one. He possessed the respect and 
esteem of every member of the Senate of both 
political parties. He was resolute, courageous, and 
studious. A decided party man, he afterwards en- 
gaged largely in the debates in the Senate, but his 
kindness and courtesy toward all turned aside any 
feeling of ill-will. He had political opponents in the 
Senate, but not an enemy. Senator W. C. Preston, of 
South Carolina, once said of him : 

"Doctor Linn is the only Democrat I should be 
distressed to hear had become a candidate for the 
presidency; for, good Whig as I am, I could not 
bring myself to vote against such a noble patriot as 
I know him to be, and one who loves his country 
with a zeal rarely equalled and never surpassed." 

Senator Linn was equally well loved by his other 
political opponents. The great Whig Senator from 
Kentucky, Henry Clay, once wrote to Mrs. Linn : 

''The greatest boon you can ask from Heaven, my 
dear madam, is that your son may resemble his 
father, who commands the admiration and gains the 
love of all that know him." 

If such were the sentiments of Doctor Linn's politi- 
cal opponents during exciting debates in the Senate, 
what may be imagined were the feelings of his own 
political friends? He felt, with all the sensibility 
of his noble nature, the kindness with which they 
had treated him. His great love for Missouri had 
made him ask much for his state, but not a Senator 
felt inclined to vote against him on such measures. 



Lewis 1^. Linn, 1795-1843. 167 

So fortunate was Doctor Linn in passing bills for 
the benefit of Missouri, that one day when in his 
usual happy manner he was presenting a number of 
bills to the Senate, his friend. Senator Buchanan, 
remarked jestingly, ''that it would save much time 
to the Senate, and a great trouble to the Doctor in 
reading these bills, to put them in a pile, and say, 
'These bills are Doctor Linn's for the benefit of 
Missouri,' and thus let them pass as they are sure to 
do." This suggestion was in the same spirit of 
pleasantly seconded by Mr. Clay and the bills were 
passed. 

Besides taking care of private interests of Missouri- 
ans in Congress, Doctor Linn took equal pains that 
Missourians at home should be informed on what 
Congress was doing. In those days Misouri had few 
newspapers and congressional news was hard to get. 
Doctor Linn tried to remedy this by having the sheriff 
of each county in Missouri copy the list of names on 
the poll-tax books. Doctor Linn arranged these 
names in a large book so he could send all the citizens 
of Missouri some papers and news during the sessions 
of Congress. 

Doctor Linn also took pains to inform the rest 
of the nation regarding the resources of Missouri. 
The great Iron Mountain of Missouri was at that 
time laughed at in the East and was regarded as a 
fable. The Doctor accordingly had a lump of iron, 
weighing two tons, taken from the mountain and sent 
to Paris, France. In Paris the iron was carefully 
examined by men of science, who reported that it 
was of superior quality. This report was published 



168 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

over the United States and was a service to Missouri. 
The Doctor also took to Pittsburg, Pa., a sample of 
the pure white sand found in great quantities near 
Ste. Genevieve, to be tried in the glass works there. 
This sand was found to make the most beautiful 
glass and for years was used exclusively in the great 
manufactures of glass along the Ohio River. 

The different mines of metals in the southern part 
of Missouri had long interested Doctor Linn and he 
greatly desired to see them worked to better advanta- 
ges. He accordingly made a trip to Europe to study 
the mines there. What he learned, he told to his 
fellow Missourians. So, while serving as Missouri's 
United States Senator, he also served her in other 
equally valuable ways. 

Not as the successful author of private bills, or 
as a developer of Missouri's resources, however, is 
Doctor Lewis F. Linn best known in Missouri history. 
His greatest service to his state was the Platte Pur- 
chase in 1836. 

When Missouri became a state in 1820, her bound- 
aries were the same as today except on the northwest. 
Instead of following the Missouri River in its north- 
westward course, the boundary line continued north- 
ward in a straight line from the mouth of the Kaw 
or Kansas River. The present counties of Platte, 
Buchanan, Andrew, Holt, Atchison and Nodaway, 
were not included in Missouri. This triangular tract 
of land, containing three thousand square miles or 
about two million acres, was at that time occupied 
by Indians. There were three great tribes, the Sau- 
kees or Sacs, the Foxes, and the Pottawatomies. The 



Lewis F. Linn, 1795-1843. 169 

land was rich, and the white settlers across the line in 
Missouri wanted it. Contrary to law, some of these 
settlers crossed over, and frequently fights with the 
Indians resulted. The Missouri Legislature in 1831 
petitioned Congress to make a more definite boundary 
line there but no action was taken until Doctor Linn 
became interested. He was the author of the bill 
providing for the acquisition of this land, called the 
Platte Country, by Missouri. The great Missouri 
Senator, Thomas H. Benton, introduced the bill in 
Congress in 1836 and it became a law. Senator 
Benton said however, that the Platte Purchase bill 
would never have passed had it not been for Lewis 
F. Linn. 

By the Platte Purchase bill, the Platte Country 
was added to Misouri, the Indians' title was paid for 
by the United States Government, and the Indians 
were moved westward. The Platte Purchase rounded 
out Missouri's boundaries. To Lewis F. Linn is the 
honor of being its author and its successful advocate. 
Missourians can never pay too much honor to the 
man who performed this service to his state. 

Greater than this service to his state, however, 
was the work of Doctor Linn in his bill for the 
settlement and occupation of Oregon Territory. His 
efforts for this measure carried it thru the Senate 
when even Senator Benton admitted that he, Benton, 
would have failed. This monumental piece of states- 
manship in its results gave to the United States the 
vast Oregon Country, which today forms the states 
of Idaho, Oregon and Washington. If this bill of 
Doctor Linn's had failed, these states would today 



170 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

probably be part of Canada. No wonder that Sena- 
tor Linn was hailed as the 'Tather of Oregon." 

While serving Missouri, Senator Linn was intereste i 
in all the nation and especially the West. He did 
so much for Iowa Territory, that Iowa called him 
her Senator. He advocated military posts on the 
frontier against the Indians, the establishing of post- 
roads, the draining of swamps, and other progressive 
work. He was a patriot who loved to see his country 
advance. He was not provincial, absorbed alone in 
the interests of Missouri, but a broad-minded states- 
man whose eyes saw the entire nation as well. 

As he served in the Senate, he grew mentally. His 
views and opinions broadened. His eloquence as a 
speaker matured. He had a natural gift for speaking, 
which he improved with practice. Some said that his 
later speeches were inspired. His influence in the 
Senate was remarkable and became stronger each 
session. How unfortunate to his country that after 
serving her only ten years when just reaching the 
maturity of his powers at the age of forty-eight years, 
this great man should suddenly be called away. With 
little previous illness. Senator Lewis F. Linn, "The 
Model Senator of Misouri," died at his home in Ste. 
Genevieve on October 3, 1843. Public meetings 
were held over Missouri, eulogies on the deceased were 
delivered, and resolutions of sympathy for Mrs. Linn 
and her family were adopted. The United States 
Senate and the House of Representatives adopted 
similar resolutions. In the former body, Senator 
Thomas H. Benton in a speech full of feeling and 
conviction said in part: *'He was my friend, but I 
speak not the language of friendship when I speak 



Lewis F. Linn, 1795-1843. 171 

his praise ... A sagacious head and a feeling 
heart were the great characteristics of Doctor Linn. 
. . . Brilliant as were the qualities of his head 
the qualities of his heart still eclipsed them. . . . 
What a heart had Lewis Linn! The kindest, the 
gentlest, the most feeling, and the most generous 
that ever beat in the bosom of a bearded man! And 
yet, when the occasion required it, the bravest and 
the most daring also. . . . Who amongst us all, 
even after the fiercest debate, ever met him without 
meeting the benignant smile and the kind salutation? 
. . He had kindness and sympathy for every human 
being. . . Here is a man in whose hands I could 
deposit my life, liberty, fortune, honor." 

The Legislature of Iowa and of Wisconsin paid 
official tribute to the life and services this remarkable 
man, and men in public life over the nation sent 
messages of condolence to the bereaved family. 

A beautiful marble monument was erected over 
his grave by the Legislature of Missouri on which 
were carved these words. 

Here rests the Remains 

of 

LEWIS F. LINN 

The Model Senator 

of 

Missouri 

During his own lifetime, however. Senator Linn 
had been honored by the Legislature of Missouri in 
Linn county being named in his honor. The States 
of Iowa, Kansas and Oregon later honored his memory 
in establishing a Linn county in each. Truly a great 
man, a gentleman, a model man and senator was 
Lewis Fields Linn. 



DAVID R. ATCHISON, 1807-1886 

United States Senator from Missouri, 18^^3-1855 

T TPON the death of Lewis F. Linn, Governor 
^ Thomas Reynolds against the advice of friends 
appointed David R. Atchison to the United States 
Senate. Governor Reynolds was severely criticized 
for this selection. Missouri's historian, William F. 
Switzler, thus tells the sad story: 

'The Governor appointed Atchison, which was 
unexpected and opposed by many of the Governor's 
political friends. In fact, it was roundly denounced, 
and the Governor was severely criticized for making 
it. Altho a man of large experience in official life 
and of recognized ability. Governor Reynolds was 
acutely sensitive to public criticism, and therefore 
possessed the weakness of being rendered very un- 
happy by it. It was the cankering plague spot of 
his existence. When, therefore, he committed suicide 
by a rifle shot in his office on February 9, 1844, many 
supposed that the chief, if not the only cause of the 
sad catastrophe, was the abuse he had received, 
principally on account of the appointment of Atchi- 
son. The Thirteenth General Assembly met on 
November 18, 1844, Claiborne F. Jackson, Speaker; 
M. M. Marmaduke, Acting Governor. On the next 
day the two houses met in joint session to elect a 
United States Senator to fill the vacancy caused by 
the death of Dr. L. F. Linn and also a Senator to 
succeed Thomas H. Benton, whose term expired 
March 4, 1845. All objections to the contrary, At- 

(172) 



David R. Atchison, 1807-1886. 173 

chison was elected for four years, the remainder of 
Doctor Linn's term." 

The criticism of Governor Reynolds' appointment 
was political. No one charged David R. Atchison of 
being unqualified for the high office of United States 
Senator. At the time of his appointment he was 
circuit judge and for years had established a high 
reputation as a lawyer. He had served two terms 
in the Missouri Legislature and was well known over 
all Western Missouri. A man of education, great 
force of character and of public spirit, was David 
R. Atchison, and eminently fitted to represent Mis- 
souri in Congress. He was in the United States 
Senate for twelve years. 

Born in Kentucky on August 11, 1807, David R. 
Atchison was reared in a family of wealth and culture. 
His father was a large land owner and a farmer. David 
R. received a good education and in 1825 graduated 
with high honors from Transylvania University. He 
then applied himself to the study of the law and 
was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-two 
years. In 1830 he came to Missouri and settled at 
Liberty, where he soon established a large and profit- 
able law practice. At that time there was only one 
other lawyer in Liberty, Judge William T. Wood. 

Atchison was appointed Major General of the North- 
ern Division of the Missouri State Militia shortly 
after this. He was also elected to represent Clay 
county two terms in the Missouri Legislature. 

In 1841 he moved to Platte City, having been 
appointed circuit judge there, and made many friends 
in his new home. He had held this office only two 
years when he was appointed to the United States 



174 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

Senate and his appointment was confirmed by elect- 
ion by the next Missouri Legislature. He served 
two terms, the last expiring on March 4, 1855. 
Two years after this, he moved to Clinton county 
and established his residence in a large brick man- 
sion in the midst of a magnificent farm of seventeen 
hundred acres, a mile and a half from Gower. 

His beautiful home was destroyed by fire in 1870 
and with it his extensive library and records. After 
the close of the Civil War, he lived a life of seclusion 
on his farm. He never married. 

The career of David R. Atchison in the United 
States Senate w^as not spectacular. He was not a 
great man but he was a man of strong convictions. 
He predicted the Civil War years before it opened. 
He saw the inevitable conflict coming. A strong 
Calhoun Democrat, he favored the Slave States in 
their contention for States' rights. Until 1848, 
Senator Atchison worked in harmony with his col- 
league, Senator Thomas H. Benton. In 1849 he 
helped elect Mr. Calhoun, President pro tern, of the 
Senate, and he and Benton became bitter enemies. 
In 1850 he led the Democrats and Whigs opposed to 
Benton, and brought about the defeat of "Old Bullion." 

While in the United States Senate, Atchison was 
for a large part of his two terms its presiding ofl^icer. 
It was while serving as President pro tern, of the 
Senate that he became acting President of the United 

States for one day the only Missourian to hold 

this office. It happened this way: President Polk's 
term expired on March 3, 1849, and as the next day 
was Sunday, the inaugeration of the new President 



David R. Atchison, 1807-1886. 175 

was postponed until Monday, March 5th. Thus by 
virtue of his office as President of the Senate, Mr. 
Atchison became the acting President of the United 
States. 

When Senator Atchison entered the United States 
Senate in 1843, his position was a difficult one. He 
not only was succeeding the beloved and gifted Linn, 
but was becoming the colleague of the great Thomas 
H. Benton, who had been Missouri's Senator for 
nearly a quarter of a century. Moreover, Senator 
Atchison was not an eloquent orator but spoke his 
thoughts direct and without high, rounded sentences. 
He was honest and sincere, plain and frank. He 
never achieved the prominence nor the influence 
attained by Benton, but he was highly regarded by 
friend and foe. 

He was "a man of imposing presence, six feet two 
inches high, and straight as an arrow, florid com- 
plexion, and would weigh about two hundred pounds." 
He was a fine conversationalist and possessed an 
excellent memory. As a citizen he was plain, jovial 
and simple in his dress and language. He was not 
an aristocrat in spite of his great wealth, but lived 
the life of a democrat by nature and education. He 
regarded himself as one of the people and was al- 
ways near to them. To the poor he dispensed food 
and clothing; to his friends, favors; and toward 
all, he was a gentleman. 

After his retirement from the United States 
Senate, Senator Atchison was active in the Kansas- 
Missouri border troubles. He was regarded as the 
pro-slavery leader in these affairs and several times 



176 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

led forces on Kansas soil. During the Civil War he 
served with the Missouri troops in the Southern 
cause and was present at several battles. He died 
at his home in Clinton county on January 26, 1886, 
lamented by all who knew him. 

During his own life Atchison county, Missouri, 
was named in his honor, as was also the city of 
Atchison, Kansas. 

Senator David R. Atchison was a simple, plain 
man, who, altho not great, occupied a remarkably 
influential position as United States Senator and 
as one of the leaders of the pro-slavery forces in 
Missouri before the Civil War. He was a fair and 
just man. Even in his speeches to the people against 
Thomas H. Benton, he always referred to his enemy 
as "your most distinguished Senator." This courtesy 
was more than "the distinguished Senator" would 
probably have shown toward David R. Atchison. He 
never degenerated to personal abuse in his speeches 
and was always cool and fair. As a private citizen 
he was honest, upright and public spirited; as a 
statesman, he wielded influence without stooping to 
petty trickery, and openly stood by and acted on his 
convictions; and as a man, David R. Atchison was 
just, courteous, hospitable, and above suspicion. 



JAMES S. GREEN, 1817-1870 

United States Senator from Missouri, 1857-18 61 

AMONG the able public men of Missouri during the 
middle of the nineteenth century, no one enjoyed 
a higher reputation for ability than James S. Green. 
Today almost forgotten except to the older generation, 
this man in 1850-1860 was easily one of the foremost 
statesmen in Missouri and was her greatest orator 
and debater. He was one of the few men in the 
nation who, like Abraham Lincoln, could successfully 
debate with Senator Stephen A. Douglass, the "Little 
Giant" from Illinois. He was a natural leader of 
men, a polished speaker and a great lawyer, and he 
owed all his success to his own efforts and industry. 
Born in Virginia on February 28, 1817, he received 
little education except in the three "Rs." Coming to 
Missouri in 1838 he worked on a farm in Lewis 
county. Altho not a college man, he soon had an 
education that was broad and deep, and which 
fitted him for a legal and political career. He was 
his own teacher and it was his custom to have a 
book in his hand when not working. What he read, 
he told to others and in the telling learned much 
himself, "for the best way to learn is by teaching 
others." He also loved to mix with all sorts of per- 
sons, poor and rich, educated and ignorant, and in 
this way received many ideas. Even as a boy he 
had a fondness for discussion and he soon became a 
skilled debater and orator. 

(177) 



178 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 




James S. Green, 1817-1870. 179 

After studying law several years he was admitted 
to the bar at Monticello, Missouri, in 1840, at the 
youthful age of twenty-three years. One of his 
first cases was before Judge Arphazed Musgrove, 
a justice of the peace in Clark county. Years later 
Justice Musgrove told this story about Green's first 
case: 

"I didn't know him. He (Green) said he was a 
lawyer. I sized him up for a chap who might have 
a license to practice law, but who could never land 
a case in his favor. But he did land to beat anything 
I ever saw. He talked to beat the band. He didn't 
look very good to me when he started, but as he got 
along he began to look better. Before he was thru 
I thought he was fine looking. I decided the case in 
his favor and said: 'Young man, stick to law. It's 
your right business.' " 

Mr. Green was tall and impressive in appearance, 
and very courteous in conversation. He was quick- 
witted, a good story-teller and highly gifted in re- 
partee. His brightness was noticed in Missouri from 
the time he came to the state. ''Some of his early 
'smart' sayings were made when he was working on 
a farm, others when he was with his brother, Martin, 
running a threshing-machine in Lewis county and 
operating a saw and grist mill on the Wyaconda river, 
and others when he was clerking in a grocery store 
at Monticello." 

He was a States' rights Democrat and disliked the 
great United States Senator from Missouri, Thomas 
H. Benton. In 1845, Green was elected a delegate 
to the state constitutional convention of 1845 and 



180 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

in 1846 was elected a Representative to Congress. 
In both bodies he was soon recognized as a young 
man of ability. In those days, as in these, it was 
the custom for a new member of Congress to keep 
himself in the background and say little or nothing 
for his first year or two. Such a custom, however, 
could not bind James S. Green. He was efficient, a 
sound lawyer, and a polished speaker. He loved to 
debate but never took the floor until he had prepared 
well his subject. 

In Congress, Green served four years, two terms, 
and delivered many speeches of worth. In 1850 he 
was defeated for re-election owing to his speaking 
tour of Missouri in 1849, in which he denounced 
Thomas H. Benton. He succeeded in defeating the 
great Benton, but made many enemies who deeply 
loved "Old Bullion." 

The great statesman, James G. Blaine wrote of 
this as follows: 

"Green had done more than any other man in 
Missouri to break down the power of Thomas H. 
Benton as a leader of the Democracy. His arraign- 
ment of Benton before the people of Missouri in 
1849, when he was but thirty-two years of age, was 
one of the most aggressive and successful warfares in 
our political annals." 

Green )vas again defeated for congress in 1852, and 
in 1853 was apopinted charge d' affairs to Columbia, 
South America. He soon tired of this office, and 
returned to Missouri the following year. In 1856 he 
was elected to Congress but before he could serve, 
he was elected United States Senator from Missouri, 



James S. Green, 1817-1870. 181 

January 12, 1857, to fill an unexpired term of four 
years. 

Senator Green at once became one of the great 
leaders in the United States Senate. No one could 
surpass him as a reasoner or excell him as an orator, 
and few equal him. Even the great Illinois states- 
man, Stephen A. Douglass, feared him. He was a 
leader of the Southern Democrats and was chairman 
of one of the most important committees. He at- 
tracted the attention of the newspapers of the United 
States and the following clipping gives some idea 
of the high regard in which he was held: 

"Senator Green is regarded as one of the master 
spirits of the Senate, and on this occasion (a debate) 
gave evidence that his mind is capable of great in- 
tellectual efforts. We congratulate Missouri and the 
country upon this clean exposition of the fallacious 
arguments of the 'Little Giant,' who is now in con- 
cert with the men whom he twelve months ago de- 
nounced as traitors and disunionists. 
. . . He fairly reviewed the argument of Judge 
Douglass ... he pointed out the fallacy, and 
so strong were the positions that they could not be 
controverted. The Senator from Illinois was sur- 
rounded by a wall of fire from which there was no 
escape. He floundered, begged the question, raised 
a new issue and finally tried to lead Green astray 
by bald assertions and oratorical displays. But it was 
of no avail. Green had the vantage ground — he felt 
it and would not let the Judge escape. . . The 
running fire between them was exceedingly interesting 
and exciting and it was easy to be seen that Mr. 



182 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

Douglass felt that he had a 'foeman worthy of his 
steel.' " 

One of America's greatest statesmen wrote this 
regarding Senator James S. Green: 

''None of his contemporaries had made so pro- 
found an impression in so short a time. He was a 
very strong debater. He had peers but no masters 
in the Senate." 

During his four years service in the United States 
Senate, Green by his remarkable success in that body 
naturally gained the high esteem and love of his 
fellow citizens in Missouri. They felt that a worthy 
successor had stepped in the place made vacant by the 
able Benton. When he returned home after a session 
in Congress, Senator Green was congratulated on 
all sides. Neighbors and people from the surround- 
ing country poured into his home in Canton. Here 
it was that Green was at his best, in his response 
from the porch of his residence with his wife and 
children at his side. His career in the Senate was 
thrilling and considering its shortness of only four 
years, was remarkable. In almost every contest he 
held his own against the most veteran statesman in 
the nation. But he never entered into a discussion 
without first making himself master of the subject. 

In all of his debates Senator Green was noted for 
his thoroness. Apparently on every position he took, 
he got at its fundamental basis. His familiarity 
with the law, combined with ease of delivery and 
quickness at reply, made him an adversary to be 
feared by even the ablest. 

Unfortunately for his political career Senator Green 
espoused the cause of the South and entered the 



James S. Green, 1817-1870. 183 

Southern army shortly after the outbreak of the Civil 
War. He achieved no success worthy of note and when 
the war ended, settled in St. Louis. His health gradually 
gave way and he died on Januarj^ 9, 1870. He was 
buried in Canton. 

In St. Louis, Senator Green had a large practice and 
was regarded as a remarkable lawyer. One of the 
ablest la\\yers in St. Louis, Samuel T. Glover, once 
said that in a certain lawsuit, Senator Green made 
one of the finest, legal arguments he had ever heard. 

In presenting the case to the court and jury, Sena- 
tor Green had neither notes nor books in front of 
him. He cited references and gave the volume and 
page and quoted constitutional provisions by article 
and section. He was clear and logical and his argu- 
ment convincing. Combined with these qualities of 
worth, Senator Green had a personal magnetism that 
made him an orator with scarcely a peer. A former 
Lieutenant Governor of Missouri, Robert A. Campbell, 
once said that he had never before or since listened 
to such a fine voice and such thrilling eloquence as 
Green possessed. He was Missouri's greatest pro- 
slavery champion. Considering his short career and 
his limited advantages. Senator James S. Green, also 
stands out as one of Missouri's remarkable statesmen 
and orators. 



JAMES S. ROLLINS, 1812-1888 
Father of the University of Missouri 

MISSOURI has produced few men who stand high- 
er in history today as a public man without 
having held a position greater than a seat in the 
lower house of Congress, than James S. Rollins. Not 
only as a statesman but as a benefactor of all pub- 
lic enterprises and especially as a patron of education, 
was Major Rollins known over the state. Perhaps 
his fame rests more on his public ability as an orator 
and statesman. His name will be remembered as 
long as Missouri's public school system exists for he 
was called the "Father of the University of Missouri." 

Born at Richmond, Ky., April 19, 1812, James 
Sidney Rollins was descended from ancestors of 
Scotch-Irish and English blood. His father was a 
doctor and was a self-made man. He gave his son 
an excellent education at one academy, a college and 
two universities. At one of the latter he was val- 
edictorian of his class. He prepared himself for the 
law and began the practice of his profession at the 
age of twenty-two years. 

His father having removed to Boone county, Mis- 
souri, James Sidney followed. He read law in the 
office of Judge Abiel Leonard, of Fayette, an eminent 
lawyer of his day, who later became a member of the 
Supreme Court of Missouri. Soon after his arrival 
in Missouri young Rollins took charge of a farm. In 
1832 he volunteered as a soldier in the Black Hawk 
Indian War and rose to the rank of major. 

(184) 



James S. Rollins, 1812-1888. 185 

Major Rollins built up a large law business but 
he disliked the confinement of office work. In 1836 
he purchased a newspaper and established the Colum- 
hia Patriot. He was a Whig in politics and favored in- 
ternal improvements. At the youthful age of twenty- 
four he was elected a delegate to the first railroad 
convention held west of the Mississippi River, at 
St. Louis. He was chairman of the committee that 
asked Congress to aid the construction of railroads 
with grants of land. This kind of request was later 
frequently made and finally resulted in the United 
States Government giving many millions of acres of 
land to help build railroads over the nation. 

From this year, 1836, Major Rollins devoted his 
energies to a number of activities instead of con- 
centrating on the law. He became a man of affairs, 
a public man, statesman, politician, orator, builder 
of industries and patron of education. 

In 1838 he was elected to the Missouri Legislature 
and spoke in favor of the bill establishing the Univer- 
sity of Missouri. This bill passed on February 8, 
1839, and marks the actual beginning of this great 
school. Missouri's first constitution of 1820 provided 
for the establishing of a State University, but as 
the years went by nothing was done. As a State 
University is part of the public school system, it 
seems strange that nearly two decades passed before 
such an institution was established, but people were 
different in those days. In fact many persons at that 
time did not favor free, public education. Private 
schools and academies were established and the well- 
to-do sent their children to these, paying tuition. 



186 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 




James S. Rollins, 1812-1888. 187 

Of course, the poor people could not do this since 
money was scarce. Many of the wealthy citizens 
did not want public schools since these would have 
to be supported by taxation. So it is easily seen 
why some of the leading people of the State opposed 
the establishment of a State University. 

Major Rollins was not, however, one of these. 
Altho his father was in good circumstances, both fath- 
er and son were willing to pay taxes so that ail the 
children of Missouri could obtain an education. The 
law providing for the University was finally passed 
and provided that it should be located in one of these 
six counties — Cole, Cooper, Boone, Howard, Callaway 
or Saline. 

Each county at once tried to raise the largest 
amount of money in order to get the University 
located in it. Public meetings were held in churches, 
at cross roads and hotels. Boone county won with a 
total of $117,000. This large amount of money is 
remarkable since Boone county at that time had only 
13,300 persons — an average of $9 for each man, 
woman and child. Some men gave more than they 
were worth and borrowed the money. Major Rollins, 
although a young lawyer, gave $2,000 and his father 
$1,500. 

The corner stone of the main building of the 
University of Missouri, was laid July 4, 1840, and 
was formally dedicated and opened on July 4, 1843. 
During these three years, however, classes had been 
instructed and several young men graduated. The 
first president of the University was Prof. John H. 
Lathrop. 



188 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

Major Rollins was again elected to the Missouri 
Legislature in 1840 and to the state Senate in 1846. 
He was now one of the leaders of the Whig party in 
Missouri, but since his party was in the minority in 
this state, Major Rollins was defeated for Governor 
in 1848 and again in 1857. 

In 1854 he was elected to the Missouri Legislature 
and in 1860 was elected Congressman from Missouri, 
serving four years. 

While in Congress he was a strong Unionist and 
a supporter of President Lincoln. He introduced 
a bill for building a transcontinental railroad from 
the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast, and secured 
the passage of a law providing for state agricultural 
colleges through donations of public lands. Under 
this last law the Missouri State Agricultural College 
was established at Columbia, and is now a part of 
the University of Missouri. 

In 1864 Major Rollins declined a third term in 
Congress, in order to attend to his private business, 
but in 1866 was again in the Missouri Legislature. 
While serving in the latter body he devoted himself 
toward aiding the public school system of Missouri 
and securing state appropriation for the University 
of Missouri. Being elected to the State Senate in 
1868, he continued to labor for the public good and 
did much to establish the State Normal Schools at 
Kirksville and Warrensburg, provide aid for Lin- 
coln Institute at Jefferson City, and establish the 
Fulton State Hospital, so besides the University of 
Missouri he aided in the founding of five state 
institutions. 



James S. Rollins, 1812-1888. 189 

Not only in advocating laws founding and building 
up the University of Missouri, but also for his 
unselfish private acts, was Major James S. Rollins 
in May, 1872, formally called the ''Father of the 
University of Missouri." That he had won rare and 
great honor, all agreed. 

On January 9, 1888, Major Rollins died at his 
home, lamented by the citizens of Columbia and 
Missouri. His life was one of helpfulness. "It is 
what we do for others — not ourselves — that lives 
after us." So it was with Major Rollins. For half 
a century he was a public man. He labored for 
others, worked for the public good, and led the 
ideal life of a sincere and noble minded citizen. He 
helped the poor and the needy, labored for better 
schools and churches, and was beloved by all. 

He was tall in stature, lithe in form and courteous 
and pleasing in address. He was cultured and highly 
educated. As an orator he was convincing and elo- 
quent, his voice was musical and his gestures grace- 
ful. His love for his country and her welfare was 
his passion. He was a statesman. In all rek tions 
he was a model Christian gentleman. 



EDWARD BATES, 1793-1869 

Missouri's and the West's First Cabinet Officer 

"^^ EARLY a century ago a young lawyer sat in 
^ ^ his office in the little town of St. Louis. Busi- 
ness was not rushing, and the young lawyer was 
studying a law book. He was a small man, had bright 
eyes and was dressed in the queer clothes of that 
day — ruffles, blue broadcloth coat and gilt buttons. 
Altho not yet thirty years old, this young man was a 
leading lawyer and usually won his cases in court. 
He was a hard student, was kind and sociable, and 
a great orator. When he addressed a jury in the 
court room, he could make them laugh or weep with 
his stories and pleadings. He was popular, loved 
by boys and girls, and was greatly liked by nearly 
everybody who knew him. When anyone had a big 
lawsuit he usually wanted to employ this brilliant 
young man. 

As this young lawyer was reading this morning in 
his office, someone knocked on the door. 
''Come in, sir," called the lawyer. 
"Mr. Bates, I want to employ you to start a law- 
suit against Mrs. B. She has one hundred and 

sixty acres of land that belongs to me and I want it. 
Fve got enough papers and legal proof to win, and 
I want you to take the case," said the visitor. 

"Who is this Mrs. B T inquired the lawyer. 

"Oh! she's the widow of old Captain B who 

was killed by the Indians in the war of 1812," an- 
swered the man. 

(190) 



Edward Bates, 1793-1869. 191 

"How did she get these one hundred and sixty 
acres, Mr. S T 

"Why, the government gave them to her as a 

bounty for what old Captain B did fighting 

the Indians." 

"Well, what is wrong with her title to the land?' 
questioned young Bates. 

"You see, Mr. Bates, the old lady didn't know the 
law very well and so she didn't do all the things she 
should have done to make her title clear. I found 
out the things she failed to do and bought some 
claims to her ground pretty cheap, and I think I can 
oust her off these one hundred and sixty acres," 
answered Mr. S . 

The young lawyer's eyes flashed fire but he calmly 
looked his visitor in the face and said: 

''Mr. S , I do not want to take your case. 

You will have to employ another lawyer." 

"But, Mr. Bates, I'll pay you mighty well for your 
services. Just name your fee and I'll pay it." 

Mr. Bates arose and walking over to his visitor 
with every muscle set, pointed to the door and said: 

"There's the door, Mr. S . I wouldn't take 

your case to rob that poor widow of her home if you 
gave me all the gold of the Indies." 

The next week a poorly clad woman knocked at 
the same door and was told to enter. She wore the 
homespun clothes of the hard working pioneer and 
by her side were two children, a boy and a girl. She 
was nervous and almost crying. 

The young lawyer arose from his desk, bowed and 
held out his hand. After the woman had sat down, 
the la^vyer asked what he could do for her. 



192 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

"You're Mr. Bates, aren't you?" inquired the 
woman. 

*'Yes, madam," replied the young man. 

'They all say you're a smart man and a mighty 
good one. I'm only a poor woman but I'm in a lot 
of trouble and seems like nobody will help me because 
I haven't money," and the poor woman began to cry 
and put her arms around her children. 

''What seems to be wrong, madam? Maybe I can 
help you a little," asked Mr. Bates. 

"There's a lawsuit been brought against me to 
take all I've got away from me. I've seen several 
lawyers and they all say I'll lose and none of them 
would take my part unless I paid them more money 
than I have. And, Mr. Bates, I havn't much besides 
a little ground except a cow, an old horse and cart, 
and a few chickens, but if you'll help me, you can 
have all of them." 

"Madam, I know nothing of your case, whether 
you are in the right or wrong, not even your name." 

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that my name is Mrs. 

B , widow of Captain B ," and the 

woman again burst into tears. 

Hastily taking his handkerchief from his pockets 
and wiping his eyes, Mr. Bates walked over to the 
widow, and taking her hand said softly: 

"Mrs. B , it will be a great pleasure for me 

to take your case and my fee is only the happiness 
I shall get in helping you. Don't worry about this 
suit." 

And Mrs. B didn't worry, for the judge of 

the court decided in favor of the young lawyer. 

This was Edward Bates, one of the greatest and 
best public men Missouri has ever had. 



Edward Bates, 1793-1869. 



193 




194 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

Born in Virginia, on September 4, 1793, of Quaker 
parents, Edward Bates was reared in a large family. 
He was educated at home and later attended an 
academy. 

When twenty-one years of age, he came to Mis- 
souri where his brother Frederick, was secretary to 
Governor Clark. Edward studied law under the 
great lawyer, Rufus Easton, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1816. Altho young he was held in high 
regard by other lawyers. In 1820 Missourians 
elected forty-one delegates to frame the first con- 
stitution of the state. These men were called "The 
Fathers of Missouri" and Edward Bates was one of 
them. He was one of the main authors of Missouri's 
first constitution, altho one of the youngest delegates, 
being only twenty-six years old. 

He held many public offices and high positions, 
and did his duty well in all. He was Missouri's 
first Attorney-General, and was later elected to the 
General Assembly and also served in CongTess. 
President Filmore appointed him Secretary of 
War of the United States, but he refused this great 
office. Later in 1861 he was appointed Attorney- 
General of the United States in President Lincoln's 
cabinet — the first man west of the Mississippi River 
to hold a cabinet position. 

Edward Bates was a great lawyer, a brilliant 
orator, a good citizen, a loving and faithful husband 
and father, and a Christian gentleman. He lived part 
of his life on a farm in St. Charles county and 
practiced law at the same time. He often joked 
about his experience as a farmer and once said: **It 
took all the money Lawyer Bates could make to 
support Farmer Bates.'* 



Edward Bates, 1793-1869. « 195 

He had winning ways, a big heart, was gentle and 
loved by all. He was no ordinary man but a truly 
great one. He never used any public office he held 
to make money out of it on the side. 

He was a natural orator and gifted with all the 
graces of a speaker. He had a sweet, miusical voice 
and vv^as never at loss for words. Always polite and 
sociable, he would salute you with a pleasant word 
if he met you even a dozen times during the day. 
Altho a hard student and a very learned man, he 
enjoyed a joke. This story is told on him, which 
shows he had much of the boy in him. 

In early times Mr. Bates and Elijah Bettis, of 
Wayne county, were members of the same Legislature. 
Mr. Bates stood first on the roll, and Bettis next. 
They differed in politics, and a further difference 
was that Bates was full of mischief, and Bettis knew 
as little how to vote as any member in the Legis- 
lature. This annoyed Bettis, and he was advised 
whenever a political question was up, to watch 
Bates and vote just the opposite way. This came to 
Bates' ear so he often voted wrong on purpose, and 
was followed by Bettis, who made it a point to be ''agin 
Bates." Then, when the call of the roll was through. 
Bates would rise and obtain leave to change his vote 
and Bettis in turn would ask leave to change his. 
Bettis was asked to explain why he changed his vote 
and he answered that his ^'id-e-e was so he voted 
agin Bates it was sartin to be Dimocraticair 

At the age of seventy-five years, after a long ill- 
ness, Edward Bates died in St. Louis, in March, 
1869. He was one of the most distinguished and 
refined men who has honored the State of Missouri. 



196 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

He was perhaps more universally beloved than any 
other man of his day in Missouri. 

His brother, Frederick Bates, after whom Bates 
county was named, died in 1825, being the second 
Governor of the State of Missouri. The Bates 
family was a remarkable one. It produced manj/ 
great men who held high positions in Missouri. 



I 



FRANK P. BLAIR, 1821-1875 

Statesman, Soldier and Leader of Men 

N Statuary Hall in Washington, D. C, each state 
is represented by statutes of her two greatest 
citizens. It would seem to be a difficult matter to 
select two men out of the many men Missouri has 
produced and honor these two above others. Few 
states have been so favored by truly great men as 
Missouri. This book on "Missouri's Hall of Fame" 
shows how high her leaders stand. But when Missouri 
was asked to place two statutes in Washington, D. 
C, there was no delay in making the selection. All 
Missouri approved. Both men had been dead for 
years, but their greatness had grown as the years 
passed. Both men had done all in their power for 
their state and country. Both men were known over 
the nation. One was Thomas Hart Benton — ^the 
greatest statesman of the West; and the other was 
Frank P. Blair — statesman, soldier, and leader of 
men. 

Francis Preston Blair, or Frank P. Blair, as he was 
usually called, was born in Kentucky on February 
9, 1821. His parents were well educated and were 
related to the best families of Virginia and Kentucky. 

The father of Frank P. Blair was a writer of ability. 
He was editor of one of President Andrew Jackson's 
newspapers in Washington, and was a devoted friend 
of "Old Hickory." He was also a close friend of 
Senator Benton, and later of President Abraham 
Lincoln. 

(197) 



198 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 




Frank P. Blair, 1821-1875. 199 

As a boy young Blair met all these statesmen. 
This meant much for the young man. He resolved 
to try to serve his country as they had done. He 
always kept this ambition before him. 

Young Blair was educated in Washington and 
then went to Princeton College in New Jersey. He 
decided to be a lawyer and after studying under 
several noted lawyers, he graduated at a law school. 

He was then only twenty-two years old. Probably 
on the suggestion of Senator Benton, Blair moved 
to St. Louis and began practicing law. His health 
being poor, he joined a party of trappers to the Rocky 
Mountains in 1845. The next year he enlisted as a 
soldier under Colonel Doniphan and served in the 
Mexican War. 

Having recovered his health he returned to St. 
Louis and soon had a large law practice. He spent 
much of his time in politics and became one of the 
leaders of the Democratic party in Missouri. 

During these years he was a follower of Senator 
Benton. Both men hated slavery altho each owned 
slaves. Both men believed in the United States as 
one nation and did not want to see it divided into 
two nations — one a slave nation, and the other a 
free nation. When Benton was finally defeated in 
Missouri for reelection to office, Blair took up the work 
of his former leader. 

This was in the ''50s, just a few years before the 
great Civil War. People were beginning to get 
excited over the great question of slavery. Some of 
the nation's great men feared that war would finally 
break out. Among these was Frank P. Blair. 



200 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

The Republican party was formed in the '50s. It took 
a decided stand on the slavery question. It did not 
oppose slavery in the states that already had slaves, 
but it did oppose slavery being introduced into new 
territories. The Democratic party was divided, but 
as a party it favored slavery. This was natural, 
since the main strength of the Democratic party was 
in the slave states. 

Blair was one of the leaders of the Democratic 
partj^. but he opposed its stand on slavery. He left 
that party and joined the Republican party, altho the 
latter was much weaker. He did this because his 
conscience made him do what he thought was right. 

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected President 
of the United States. He was the first Republican 
President. 

Blair and President Lincoln were close friends. 
The Civil War broke out in 1861 and both the 
North and the South made every effort to get the 
aid of the "Border States." The "Border States" 
were those states that lay between the great slave 
states of the South and the free states of the North. 
These "Border States" had slaves, but many of their 
citizens did not and were opposed to slavery. 
Missouri was one of these "Border States." 

In Missouri the people themselves were divided. 
One man favored slavery, his neighbor opposed it. 
Sometimes even father and son, brothers, husband 
and wife, w^ere opposed to each other. Nobody knew 
how Missouri would finally go, whether with the 
North or the South. Nearly all, however, hoped that 
there would be no war in Missouri and that the 
state would not take sides. 



Frank P. Blair, 1821-1875. 201 

There were a few, nevertheless, who believed 
Missouri could not remain neutral, that she must go 
one way or the other — that there would be war and 
bloody battles fought on Missouri soil. One of these 
men was Frank P. Blair. He acted accordingly. 

Blair loved the Union for which the North was 
fighting, and determined that Missouri should not 
go with the Confederacy for which the South was 
fighting. Early in 1861, Blair drilled four regiments 
of German soldiers in St. Louis. These were all 
of Union soldiers enlisted in Missouri, and aided 
Union men. He was captain of the first company 
in arming and clothing them. 

The Missouri State Government was at this time 
controlled by pro-slavery men. When President 
Lincoln called on Missouri for four regiments of 
soldiers, Governor Jackson refused. Blair promptly 
wired President Lincoln that he had four regiments 
he could use. He later offered six regiments more. 
President Lincoln offered Blair a high military title — 
a bridgadier's commission — but he modestly refused. 
He requested that this title be given to the Union 
commander then in St. Louis — Nathaniel Lyon. Few 
men are so unselfish. 

General Lyon was put in command of the Union 
troops in St. Louis and guarded the United States 
arsenal there. This arsenal had thousands of rifles, 
many cannons and much ammunition. The Missouri 
State Government wanted to seize the arsenal to get 
arms for the southern cause. Lyon and Blair knew 
this and determined to prevent it. Lyon accordingly 
marched his soldz'ers to Camp Jackson where the 
Missouri State troops were and captured them. 



202 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

Blood was shed and the Civil War in Missouri had 
begun. 

During the War, Blair served the Union cause as 
a Congressman at Washington and as a soldier in 
the battlefield. He led his men in many battles. He 
fought with courage. He finally rose to the rank 
of major-general. General Grant said Blair was one 
of the two best volunteer officers in the Union 
army. He was the most illustrious soldier Missouri 
gave to the Union. 

While the. War was being waged, Blair had great 
influence in Missouri. President Lincoln looked to 
Blair more than to any other man for advice on 
Missouri questions. 

After the war, instead of seeking political honors 
to advance himself, Blair took up the unpopular 
work of protecting his late enemies from injustice. 
The men who controlled the affairs in Missouri at 
that time were determined that the old Democratic 
party should never again control the State. They 
were radical men and were called Radical Republicans. 
They passed laws forbidding a man to vote if he had 
even helped a Confederate soldier. Such a man 
could not even preach, or practice law, or teach, or 
serve on a schoolboard. Of course, this wholesale 
exclusion was unjust. The War was over, why 
arouse bitterness by such laws? The Radical Re- 
publicans thought it was necessary, but many Re- 
publicans, and of course all the Democrats, opposed 
these laws. One of these Republicans was Frank 
P. Blair — a Union soldier. He became the leader 
of the Conservative Union (Republican) party in 
Missouri in 1866. 



Frank P. Blair, 1821-1875. 203 

Blair went up and down the State of Missouri 
delivering speeches against these unjust laws. Many 
of the Union soldiers thought he had turned traitor 
and his life was in danger all the time. At this 
time men's passions ran high and bloodshed was not 
uncommon. But Blair was used to danger and was 
always cool. The following story by Hon. Champ 
Clark shows Blair was able to take care of himself: 

^'Before the War, Blair went to Hannibal to speak 
against slavery. A mob gathered to break up the 
meeting. While he was speaking some one hit him 
squarely in the forehead with an egg. He wiped it 
off with his finger, flipped it on the ground, and 
coolly proceeded, making not the slightest mention of 
the incident. His marvelous nerve charmed his 
audience, hostile tho it was, and those who had come 
to stone remained to applaud." 

After the War, instead of seeking political honors 
Blair had equally hard experiences. Hon. Champ 
Clark tells of some of these: 

''In the outskirts of Louisiana, Missouri, stand 
four immense sugar trees. They form the comers 
of a rectangle about large enough for a speaker's 
platform. Beneath their gratful shadow, with the 
Father of Waters behind him, the blue sky over his 
head, in the presence of a great and curious crowd 
of people, Frank Blair made the first Democratic 
speech delivered in Missouri after the close of the 
Civil War. Excitement was intense. Armed men of 
all shades and opinion were on every hand. When 
Blair arose to speak he unbuckled his pistol belt and 
coolly laid two large navy revolvers on the table. He 
began as follows: 



204 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

" Tellow-citizens, I understand that I am to be 
killed here today. I have just come out of four years 
of that sort of business. If there is to be any of it 
here, it had better be attended to before the speak- 
ing begins.' 

"There was silence deep as death; and the boldest 
held his breath for a time. 

''He then proceeded with his speech, but had not 
been going more than five minutes until a man of 
gigantic proportions started toward him, shaking his 
hugh fist and shouting, 

" 'He's an arrant rebel! Take him out! Take him 
out! 

"Blair stopped, looked the man in the face, crooked 
his finger at him, and said, 

" 'You- corhe and take me out!' 

"This put ^an end to that incident, for the man 
who was yelling knew that Blair's finger would soon 
be pressing the trigger of one of those pistols. 

"He got thru that day without bloodshed ; but when 
he spoke at Warrensburg, Missouri, a little later, he 
had not spoken a quarter of an hour before a 
prominent citizen sitting on the speaker's stand 
started toward Blair, with a pistol in his hand and 
with a mighty oath, yelling: 

" 'That statement is a lie! 

"This started a free fight, in which one man was 
killed and several severely wounded. Blair went on 
with his speech. I know an aged, mild-mannered. 
Christian statesman, who for two hours of that speech 
stood with his hand upon his revolver ready to shoot 
down any man that assaulted Blair." 

"Afterwards Blair was advertised to speak at Mar- 
shall, in Saline county. On the day of his arrival 



Frank P. Blair, 1821-1875. 205 

an armed mob was organized to prevent him from 
speaking. An armed body of Democrats swore he 
should. A collision occurred, resulting in a regular 
pitched battle. Several men lost their lives and 
others were badly injured. But Blair made his 
speech." 

"One night he was speaking in St. Louis, when a 
man in the crowd not twenty feet from the stand, 
pointed a revolver directly at him. Friendly hands 
interposed to turn the aim skj-^vard." 

'Let him shoot, if he dares,' said Blair, gazing 
coolly at his would-be-murderer; ''if I am wrong, I 
ought to be shot, but this man is not the proper 
executioner.' " 

''The fellow was hustled from the audience." 

''Amid such scenes," says Hon. Champ Clark, 
''Blair toured the state from the Des Moines River 
to the Arkansas line and from the Mississippi to the 
mouth of the raging Kaw. The man who did that 
had a lion's heart in his breast." 

Hon. Frank P. Blair held several high public 
positions. In 1867 Blair was instrumental in re- 
organizing the Democratic party in Missouri. He 
was the Democratic condidate for Vice-President in 
1868. In 1869-1870 he became a Liberal Republican 
in the State election, and in 1871 was elected as a 
Democratic United States Senator. He served four 
terms in the House of Representatives in Washington. 
In 1871 he was elected United States Senator from 
Missouri and served two years. He died in St. 
Louis on July 9, 1875. His death was lamented by 
the entire State of Missouri for all saw that he had 
worked not for his own success but for the good of 
the people. 



206 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

Blair was brave in war. He served in two, the 
Mexican War of 1846-7 and the Civil War. But he 
was greater in peace. The life and services of 
Frank P. Blair would fill volumes if all were written. 
He did more for the Union in Missouri just before 
and during the Civil War than any ten men. 

"Blair was five feet eleven inches in height, straight 
as an Indian, of slender, wiry frame, hazel eyes, 
auburn hair, ruddy complexion, and aquiline nose. 
He was of nervous temperament. He was an optimist 
by nature and had unbounded confidence in himself 
and in Missourians." 

He was a natural leader. He feared no man or 
body of men. He was of the stuff that martyrs are 
made. Gladly would he have given his life for what 
he thought was right. While others argued, he acted. 
Altho fearless, he was as tender as a child. 

One of the strangest things in Blair's life is his 
success in politics in spite of the fact that he deserted 
his party twice. Usually when a man deserts his 
party, he rarely is popular and seldom elected to 
office. Blair was born a Democrat, he served as a 
Republican Congressman, then as a Democrat United 
States Senator, and died a Democrat. 

What is even more remarkable is that in spite of 
all the enemies he had made, before his death 
Frank P. Blair was loved by all. He had fought in 
the Union army, and the old Union soldiers later 
named a Grand Army camp after him. He had fought 
against the Confederates but later saved them after 
the war from the unjust laws against them. Many 
of these old Confederate soldiers proudly named their 
boys "Frank Blair.'* 

He said to all, "We are brethern." 



JAMES SHIELDS, 1810-1879 
Soldier and Statesman. 

HANGING in the Capitol at Washington is one of 
the notable battle pictures of the world. It 
tells the story of the battle of Chapultepec and the 
capture of the City of Mexico by the American 
Army during the Mexican War. In the thick of the 
fight, where he always loved to be, is a general 
standing in his shirt sleeves. That man is General 
James Shields, a veteran of three wars and a United 
States Senator from three states. 

General Shields was once asked if the picture was 
true and he replied: 

''Yes, we were taken just as we stood by a photo- 
grapher who followed the army. An interesting 
story lies back of the picture. General Scott, the 
American commander, had planned that my army 
should merely attack the Mexicans at Chapultepec 
and that another general should capture the City of 
Mexico. My army advanced rapidly putting the 
Mexicans to flight. General Scott saw that my men 
w^ere making rapid progress and sent a messenger to 
stop me. I saw him coming and suspected Ms 
message. I didn't want any message from General 
Scott at that moment. When the messenger came 
within speaking distance, he began : 

'* 'General Scott sends his compliments to General 
Shields.' 

"I hollowed out, 'All right, but I haven't time to 
talk with you now; wait a bit.' 

"General Scott, ' seeing that my men still pushed 
(207) 



208 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

on, sent an officer to me. My horse having been shot 
under me, I was on foot. I told the officer it would 
be madness for us to stop and that General Scott 
never would have ordered it if he knew how gloriously 
we were advancing. The officer was a gallant soldier 
and a generous one. Instead of ordering me to go 
back, he told me to go ahead. So on we went, and 
in less than twenty minutes we entered the city gate 
and unfurled the first American flag in the City of 
Mexico. The picture was taken as I was talking to 
the officer, so I can say it is true." 

Another story of the famous battle of Chapultepec 
is also interesting to Missourians. There were some 
Missourians in this battle and one was a man named 
Palmer, who was later a harness-maker in Columbia 
(Mo.) Years later a native of Columbia visited the 
City of Mexico. There he saw the steep, rocky heights 
of Chapultepec, up which Shields' army had gone in 
the face of the Mexicans' fire. On returning to 
Columbia, this man asked Palm.er how he and his 
fellow-soldiers ever ascended those heights. The old 
harness-maker modestly replied: "Why, we just dumb 
up." 

Not only in this battle did General Shields show 
courage and ability, but in others he also proved 
himself a brave general. At Cerro Gordo he was 
severely wounded but refused to quit. He advanced 
to the charge when he was struck in the chest by an 
iron grape-shot which passed through his lungs. He 
fell apparently lifeless. When some of his men were 
about to remove him from the field, he said: 

'*I am of no further use to my ^country. You are. 
Lay me down and let me die ; I might as well die here 
as to be taken off to die. You are strong, able- 



James Shields, 1810-1879. 



209 




JAMES SHIELDS 



210 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

bodied men able to do your country some service. For 
our country's sake, lay me down and go to your duty." 

These are the words of a brave man. For his 
services he was made a major-general and four 
months later led the soldier boys from South Carolina 
and New York in another battle. After the war the 
State of South Carolina presented him with a 
diamond hilted sword which cost $5,000. 

Few men have had a more eventful life than this 
man. Born in Ireland on May 10, 1810 (same say 
1806) he was of Scotch-Irish blood. His father died 
when James was only six years old and his mother 
reared him well. He liked books and read widely. 
He knew French and had a fine classical education. 
In Ireland he took lessons in sword exercises from 
some of the Irish soldiers who had fought against 
Napoleon. 

He was named after an uncle who lived in America 
and who had fought for this nation in the Revolu- 
tionary War and the War of 1812. This uncle asked 
James to come to America. At the early age of six- 
teen years he set sail but was shipwrecked off the 
coast of Scotland. His next attempt succeeded but on 
reaching the United States he learned that his uncle 
had died. James then became a sailor and was soon 
an expert seaman. In an accident he had both legs 
broken but recovered. 

When war broke out in Florida against the 
Seminole Indians, Shields enlisted. He displayed 
bravery and was wounded. 

He had chosen the law as his profession and had 
settled in Illinois. At first he taught school. In 
1832 he was admitted to the bar. He opened a law 



JAMES SHIELDS, 1810-1879. 211 

office and soon became popular. He had a fine per- 
sonal appearance and engaging manners. He was live 
feet and nine inches tall. He was frank and 
resolute. 

In 1835 he was elected a Representative in the 
Illinois Legislature and served four years. He was 
then appointed State Auditor and held this office until 
he accepted the position of Judge of the Supreme 
Court of Illinois. He knew such great men as 
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglass and was 
respected by them. In 1845 President Polk appointed 
him to the general land office in Washington and the 
next year he was appointed a bridgadier-general in 
the War with Mexico. 

After the conquest of Mexico, General Shields 
returned to Illinois to practice law. He was still 
feeble from his wounds. Illinois presented him with 
a sword which cost $3,000. When he died thirty-one 
years later, the Illinois and South Carolina swords 
were left to his widow and children. 

President Polk now appointed him Governor of the 
Territory of Oregon, but his election to the United 
States Senate from Illinois prevented his acceptance. 
General Shields' popularity ^^'^^^'^^^t '."l J™" 
While in the United States Senate from 1849 to 1855 
he favored grants of lands for founding agricultural 
colleges, building railroads and making homes for 

settlers. , . ,^. , tt.. 

On leaving the Senate he settled m Minnesota. He 
was elected to the Legislature and later again elected 
to the United States Senate. He represented Min- 
nesota two years as Senator and then moved to 
California. 



212 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

At the opening of the Civil War he offered his serv- 
ices to the Union and served with his usual courage 
and ability. He was a good general and won several 
battles. 

At the close of the war he settled at Carrollton, 
Missouri, where he owned a farm. This was in 
1866. He made Carrollton his home until his death 
on June 1, 1879. He served two terms in the 
Missouri Legislature and in 1878 was again elected 
United States Senator to represent Missouri. This 
made the third time he had been elected to the 
United States Senate and each time he served a 
different state. 

His private life was model. He was a cultured 
gentleman, a true husband, a loyal and patriotic 
citizen. He gave freely of his wealth. He was too 
generous to be thrifty. He lectured in many states, 
giving the proceeds to some charity. In politics he 
was a Democrat, in religion he was a Catholic. 

In the city of Carrollton, Missouri, where he lived 
the last sixteen years of his life, two monuments 
have been erected in his honor and memory. His 
grave was marked in 1910 by a monument provided 
by authority of Congress. In 1914 the State of 
Missouri erected a beautiful monument which stands 
at the east door of the court house. 

Three states claim this man who came to America 
a little, friendless Irish lad. Illinois, Minnesota and 
Missouri do him honor. The veterans of three wars 
claim this man. Such is the life of General James 
Sheilds, who stands in history as a soldier and a 
statesman. 



JOHN BROOKS HENDERSON, 1826-1913 

Author of The Thirteenth Amendment Abolishing 
Slavery in the United States 

T7R0M orphan to statesman is the career of some 
-■- of America's greatest men. This country is the 
land of opportunity. To him who labors and studies 
with care, greater prospects of success are found in 
the United States than in any other nation. Here 
men are given a chance. If they fail, it is usually 
their own fault. Among those who took advantage 
of their opportunity, is John Brooks Henderson — 
lawyer and statesman. 

Born in Virginia on November 16, 1826, John 
Brooks Henderson came of southern parentage. His 
father and mother moved to Missouri in 1832 and 
both died before John was ten years old. They left 
him small means with which to educate himself. 
He attended the common schools of Lincoln county, 
Missouri, and was a good student. He earned his 
first money teaching school, but his ambition was 
to be a lawyer. 

He was admitted to the bar in 1848 and began his 
practice law in Louisiana, Missouri, the following 
year. He lived in Louisiana until 1861 and built up 
a fine law practice. 

At the early age of twenty-one years he was elected 
to represent Pike county in the Missouri Legislature 
and was again elected in 1856. In 1860 he was a 
candidate for Congress but was defeated by the more 
experienced and older politician, James S. Rollins. 

(213) 



214 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

Up to this time John Brooks Henderson had been 
a Democrat. Altho bom and reared in the South, 
he opposed slavery. At the outbreak of the Civil 
War he became a Republican and gave his services 
to the Union. He was elected to the Missouri State 
Convention in St. Louis in 1861 and was one of the 
leading Unionists in that body. The same year he 
was appointed brigadier-general in the Mis;souri 
Militia and labored for the Union cause in the five 
Northeast Missouri counties in his district. He was 
appointed United States Senator in 1862 and was 
elected to that body from Missouri in 1863. His 
term expired on March 4, 1869, when he was succeed- 
ed by that other well known and patriotic statesman, 
Carl Schurz. 

On retiring from the Senate he made his home in 
St. Louis. In 1872 he was a candidate for Governor 
of Missouri, but being a Republican, was defeated. 
He was also defeated in 1872 for the office of United 
States Senator from Missouri. He served as As- 
sistant United States District Attorney in 1875 by 
appointment of President Grant, and in 1884 was 
president of the National Republican Convention. 

He retired from the practice of law in 1887 and 
the following year moved to Washington, D. C, 
where he lived until his death on April 12, 1913. 
While he lived in Washington he held several honor- 
ary positions and was a favorite in social circles 
in his advanced age. 

As a lawyer, Senator Henderson was one of the 
ablest and most widely known members of the Mis- 
souri bar. He was successful, able and honest. He 
always charged a client a high fee, having begun 
this practice as a young man. He regarded his 



John Brooks Henderson, 1826-1913. 215 

services as valuable and he impressed this point on 
people by his charge. They were few, however, who 
criticized this practice, because his clients knew 
that they could rely upon him. Altho his opponents 
were frequently of the highest ability, he was their 
equal in the courts of the land. He always studied 
a case thoroly, read all the books and records bearing 
on it, and then usually obtained a verdict in his 
favor. He was not a good jury lawyer and did not 
enjoy trying to arouse sympathy or enthusiasm by 
appeals of oratory. He was not an orator but a 
cool logical speaker. He did not move men by humor 
and pathos but by facts. This is one reason why he 
confined his practice to the higher courts, where 
logic and not sympathy is supreme. 

Successful as he was as a lawyer, Senator Hender- 
son will live in history as a statesman. There is 
this similarity, however, between his career as a 
lawyer and as a statesman — he always influenced 
his fellow-men by statements of facts, and was al- 
ways guided by principles of honesty. Altho his serv- 
ices to the state and nation as a statesman were per- 
formed during a period of only eleven years, they 
left a permanent impression on the laws of this 
country. He served two terms in the Legislature of 
Missouri and during these four years he was active 
in framing railroad and banking laws for the state, 
some of which are the foundations of our present 
system of laws on these subjects. 

His career as a United States Senator, covering 
seven years, would fill a volume if all were written. 
He was one of the leaders in the United States Sen- 
ate and was a member of a number of important 
committees. He was instrumental in having adopted 



216 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

the general policy of making peace treaties with the 
Indian tribes over the nation. He was also able to 
have the National Government reimburse the State of 
Missouri for war expenditures. His most conspicu- 
ous piece of legislation was the Thirteenth Amend- 
ment to the Constitution abolishing slavery in this 
country. Senator Henderson wrote this amendment 
and introduced it in the United States Senate. 

He was also one of the advocates of the clause in 
the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States, which stated that the right to vote 
should not be denied on account of race, color, or 
previous conditions of servitude. 

Perhaps his most unpopular act as a statesman 
was when he voted for the acquittal of President 
Andrew Johnson on the impeachment charges which 
had been preferred against him. Henderson voted 
for his acquittal and Johnson was not convicted. 
This act of Henderson's cost him re-election to the 
United States Senate and ended his public career in 
Missouri. History, however, has endorsed the un- 
popular stand that was taken by Missouri's United 
States Senator. 

John Brooks Henderson does not rank with the 
greatest men Missouri has produced. His career as a 
public man was short. His influence on political 
conditions in Missouri was short lived. Belonging to 
the opposite political party in control in Missouri, 
his opportunity for service was limited. His removal 
to Washington D. C, ended his public career. During 
these few years, however, he achieved much. As 
the author of the Thirteenth Amendment alone his 
name will be remembered. To this single distinction. 



John Brooks Henderson, 1826-1913. 21? 

will be added his patriotic stand for the Union in 
1861. his leadership in the United States Senate on 
many public questions, and his high position as a 
lawyer in Missouri. 

Pike county, Missouri, has been the home of many 
eminent men and not least of these is John Brooks 
Henderson, 



CARL SCHURZ, 1829-1906 
Statesman, Orator and Journalist 

MEN of foreign birth have usually not been elected 
to the highest political positions in this country. 
While many have sat in state Legislatures, some have 
become Governors, and others have been elected 
Congressmen in the House of Representatives, very 
few have risen to the United States Senate. This 
is especially true with regard to men born and 
educated in non-English speaking countries like 
Germany and France. Altho such men may become 
great lawyers, writers or journalists, they seldom 
learn the English language well enough to be able to 
deliver polished addresses in public without disclosing 
the language of their youth. They fail as English 
orators. This handicaps them in obtaining the high- 
est public offices. 

Perhaps the most remarkable exception to this 
in the history of the United States during the last 
century is Carl Schurz. Bom in Germany, March 
2, 1829, Carl Schurz came of highly respectable 
parents. He received a fine education, studying in 
several of the universities in Germany. He was a 
good student and was loved by his many friends. 
While in school he grew to hate the autocratic 
government of his native land. He loved democracy 
and longed to see his fellow men under a republican 
form of governmenut similar perhaps to the United 
States Government. 

At the early age of twenty years he joined in an 
uprising of the people to free Germany of her power- 

(218) 



Carl Schurz, 1829-1906. 



219 



ful kings and petty rulers. This was in 1849. Un- 
fortunately the rulers with their drilled armies 
were able to put down the insurrection and Schurz 
was imprisoned in a fortress. He managed to escape 
and for three days and nights concealed himself in 
a sewer. He remained in this hiding place without 

food or drink and 

finally managed to 
reach the river 
Rhine, He succeeded 
in finding his way to 
Switzerland where 
he secluded himself 
for a year. 

Many of his 
friends, however, had 
not been so fortun- 
ate. Hundreds had 
been killed and thou- 
sands placed in pris- 
on. One of these was 
confined in Berlin. 
Schurz went secretly 
to Berlin and after 
considerable planning managed to aid his friend in 
escaping. 

He then went to Paris, France, where he cor- 
responded for several German newspapers, and in 
1852 went to London. In the latter city he obtained 
his livlihood by teaching languages and music. 

He decided to come to the United States and landed 
here in 1852. For three years he resided in Phila- 




CARL SCHURZ 
(From Walter B. Stevens' "Missouri The 
Center State.") 



220 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

delphia where he studied with care the English 
language as well as the law and history of his adopted 
country. 

Having succeeded in mastering the English langu- 
age he moved to Wisconsin. Here he became a 
politician of prominence and was soon one of the 
leaders of the Republican party in that state. In 
1857 he was candidate on the Republican ticket for 
Lieutenant-Governor of Wisconsin, but was defeated. 
Having been admitted to the bar he began to practice 
law, but his new profession was of less importance 
to him than his activities as a politician. 

He made his first public speech in English in 
Chicago in 1858. This speech was delivered for 
Abraham Lincoln, who in two years became President 
of the United States. It soon became widely known 
and people recognized that a new orator had develop- 
ed. 

From that year the reputation of Carl Schurz as 
an orator increased. He delivered a series of public 
lectures and addresses in New England in 1859 and 
1860, which were quoted over the nation. He spoke 
English with remarkable fluency and had no superior 
if any equal among men of German descent in ad- 
dressing an English speaking audience. This is the 
more remarkable considering that Carl Schurz had 
been born and reared on foreign soil and received 
his education in a foreign language with only a few 
years of instruction in the English tongue. Every 
language has expressions that are peculiar to that 
language. They are called idioms, which are difficult 
for the foreigner to master. Carl Schurz, however, 
thru diligent study, was able to master such diffi- 
culties. 



Carl Schurz, 1829-1906. 221 

Owing to his lectures in behalf of Abraham Lin- 
coln, and because of his public service for the Republi- 
can party, Carl Schurz was appointed United States 
Minister to Spain. He took up his residence in 
Madrid, but soon after the outbreak of the Civil War 
he resigned this post of high honor, and returned to 
the United States to enter the Union army. He was 
in a number of campaigns in the South and finally 
rose to the rank of major-general. 

During the last year of the War and immediately 
following the War Schurz traveled extensively. He 
observed people and conditions closely and had a 
memory that forgot nothing. He was not only 
familiar with the conditions in Wisconsin, but had a 
grasp on affairs in the North, East, South and Mid- 
dle West. His view was a national one, and it greatly 
aided him in his writing and addresses. 

He settled in Detroit in 1866 and became editor of 
the Daily Post. 

The following year, 1867, he moved to St. Louis 
and became editor-in-chief of a German paper, the 
Westliclie Post. This paper had great influence 
among the thousands of German citizens in St. Louis. 
Thru it Schurz became a power in Missouri politics 
and in two years became the leader of the Republican 
party in this state. In January, 1869, he was chosen 
United States Senator from Missouri and served 
until 1875. While in the United States Senate he 
was regarded as a leader. His position on all public 
questions was broad and enlightened. He opposed 
using army force in the Southern states after the 
war had ended. Altho he had been one of the chief 
supporters of the Republican party and had been a 



222 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

loyal Union man during the Civil War, he refused to 
oppress the brave people of the South after they had 
been defeated. He took a similar stand on local 
politics in Missouri during this period, and helped 
organize the Liberal Republican party in this State. 
He later assisted in organizing the People's partj^ 
movement. 

Succeeding his retirement from the Senate in 1875, 
Schurz was appointed United States Secretary of 
Interior under President Hays. While filling this 
position he brought about several progressive re- 
forms as well as performing the duties of his office. 
Without waiting for a law to be passed, he introduced 
the merit system in his own department. Before 
this it had been the custom for persons to obtain 
salaried positions in the Department of the Interior 
and in any other department, largely on the basis of 
influence of friends or on the basis of work as 
politicians. Schurz decided that this was wrong 
and that the practice should be stopped. He accord- 
ingly filled subordinate positions on the basis of worth 
and qualifications of the man. He also labored hard 
to prevent a group of rich men from getting posses- 
sion of the vast timber resources belonging to the 
government. He was also interested in improving 
the conditions of the Indians in this nation. Thru 
his work as Secretary of Interior he accomplished 
much. Some of his work did not meet with the ap- 
proval of many at that time but today, forty years 
later, the government is trying to carry out many 
of the reforms which Carl Schurz tried to inaugurate. 

He retired from this office and moved to New York 
in 1881 where he became editor of the New York 



CARL SCHURZ, 1829-1906. 223 

Evening Post. This may be said to mark the begin 
ning of the last half of his career as a United States 
citizen. Prior to this he had held public offices in 
this countrj' and had been more or less before the 
eyes of American people as a politician and states- 
man. After taking up his residence in New York, 
he never held another public office, but he was still 
a man of wide influence up to the tim.e of his death 
on May 14, 1906. 

Altho he had been a Republican in politics, he 
favored the election of the Democratic candidate 
for the Presidency, Grover Cleveland, in 1884, but 
in 1896 he opposed the Democratic candidate Williamx 
Jennings Bryan. He did not believe in the financial 
policy of Bryan in 1896 in regard to silver. In 1900, 
however, Schurz gave his support to the Democratic 
candidate because of that party's advocacy of anti- 
imperialism. Aside from the question as to whether 
Carl Schurz was right or wrong in the stands he took 
in the field of politics, it is not denied by even his 
opponents that he always did what he thought was 
right. Frequently he suffered loss of influence by 
deserting one party and taking up with another and 
then in a few years going back to the original party 
that he had deserted. People in those days could 
not understand such actions. Men voted the party 
ticket right or wrong, as a rule. Political lines were 
strickly drawn, and anyone who stepped over theni 
did so at the cost of influence and power. Today 
men of the type of Schurz are not so censored, for 
the people are now paying more attention to the 
ability and honesty of a man and the correctness of 
principal than they are to party. 



224 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

During the latter years of his life, Carl Schurz 
became editor of Harper's Weekly and spent all of 
his time in writing. His two most important works 
were the ''Life of Henry Clay" and his own ''Auto- 
biography." His style of writing is interesting, 
which, combined with his scholarly attitude for 
accuracy of statements made his works valuable. 

Carl Schurz was not a genius but was a man of 
great mind and high morals. He was a student all 
his life, but unlike most students he read not onlj. 
books, but men and public affairs. With his fine 
educational training, his extensive reading, and trav- 
els at home and abroad, he was able to study a ques- 
tion with more knowledge than most men. His 
intellect was, however, no more highly developed 
than his morals. He was honest in his dealings with 
men. Principles meant everything to him. His offer- 
ing his life to bring about democracy in Germany at 
the early age of twenty years is typical of his activi- 
ties during his entire career. Altho not an aggres- 
sive fighter, always ready to pick a quarrel, Schurz 
was not afraid to battle for what he thought was 
right. At the cost of money and influence he stood 
for progress. 

It was this high moral attitude of Carl Schurz 
that made him a national figure of first importance 
in American affairs. Of few persons of foreign birth 
and education can this be said so truly as it can in 
the case of this Democratic statesman. In partial 
recognition of his life's work of fifty-four years 
as a citizen of the United States, there was erected 
to his memory a monument in New York. 



Carl Schurz, 1829-1906. 225 

He was a citizen of Missouri only fourteen years 
and resided here only a part of this time. His im- 
pression on the state, however, was great. He ranked 
high as an editor, as an orator, politician and states- 
man. He was Missouri's United States Senator for 
six years, and performed well his duties. He is 
truly claimed by three states — Wisconsin, Missouri 
and New York. His greatest service was in Missouri 
and he will always occupy an important place in her 
history. 



FRANCIS MARION COCKRELL, 1834-1915 

United States Senator from Missouri for Thirty Years 

'T^HE story is told that the throwing of an old 
^ slouch hat to the ceiling of the Hall of Re- 
presentatives in Jefferson City, made Francis Cockrell 
Missouri's United States Senator. It happened back 
in the summer of 1874. There were two Democratic 
candidates for the nomination of Governor — Charles 
H. Hardin and Francis Marion Cockrell. The Demo- 
cratic State Convention, consisting of several hun- 
dred delegates, had met to decide which m,an should 
be the choice of the Democratic party in Missouri. 
Excitement was high and feeling strong. Finally 
after much speaking, Cockrell lost the nomination 
by a majority of one-sixth of a vote. The result 
of the vote had scarcely been announced when a 
tall figure arose from his chair, walked down the 
aisle, and mounted the platform. Every voice was 
still; all waited in expectancy. The man was 
Cockrell. A moment m.ore and a voice rang out: 

*'No man will more loyally support the choice of 
this convention than I. No man will throw his hat 
higher for Charley Hardin than will I." And away 
to the ceiling went the old slouch hat of Cockrell. 
The convention was frantic in honoring the noble 
act of the defeated candidate. They told him **you 
have lost the Governorship today, but you will win 
the United States Senatorship next winter." So when 
the Missouri Legislature met in Jefferson City six 
months later its choice for the highest political 
office was Gen, Francis Marion Cockrell. He held 

(226) 



Francis Marion Cockrell, 1834-1915. 227 

this office five consecutive terms and his seat v^as 
never contested by a Democratic candidate during 
this period of thirty years. No man in Missouri 
history served Missouri so long in the Upper House 
of Congress, excepting the great Benton. 

Missouri did v^ell when she elected this man to 
the United States Senate. It is true he had never 
before held a political office but he soon showed his 
ability as a statesman, the same as he had shown 
his courage as a general. 

In Washington he was respected by both Democrats 
and Republicans. He was a great worker and master- 
ed every detail of any proposition in hand. He served 
on important committees and his statements of facts 
were never disputed. He was a true patriot who 
loved his country and watched over her interests. He 
was never forgetful of his state and no Missourian 
came to him for a favor but what he granted it, 
if it was just and right. Altho he served his state 
for thirty years in the United States Senate, Francis 
Marion Cockrell was poorer when he retired from 
office than when he entered it. No dishonest money 
passed thru his hands and not once was the finger 
of suspicion pointed at him. Every act of his will 
bear the closest examination, and none will reveal dis- 
honesty. 

When Missouri in 1904 elected a Republican 
Legislature in the Lower House it meant the retire- 
ment of Cockrell from the Senate at the .end of his 
term on March 3, 1905. Curiously enough, however, 
a Republican President was determined that the 
nation should not lose the services of this well trained, 
patriotic and honest statesman. President Roosevelt 



228 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

said that the people of Missouri had lost a faithful 
servant, but that the government would not lose him, 
and he accordingly appointed Cockrell a member ol 
the Interstate Commerce Commission. He served on 
the Commission until 1910 and later served the nation 
in other important public posts. His death on Decem- 
ber 13, 1915, v^^as commented on by the city papers 
of the nation. He was widely known and great 
confidence was reposed in him. He was clean-handed 
and clean-hearted. He was gentle, simple and hos- 
pitable. He inspired confidence in other men. 

Here in Missouri, where he was born on October 1, 
1834, he was loved by all. When he went over the 
state on his political campaigns, it was more like 
visiting friends than stumping for votes. He had a 
remarkable memory and could call his acquaintances 
by their first name without hesitating. He was com- 
manding in appearance, being over six feet tall and 
and weighing two hundred pounds. Simple in man- 
ner and dress, his figure was a familiar one in every 
county in the State. He usually wore a linen duster 
and preferred a corn-cob pipe. He was not democra- 
tic in manner in order to obtain votes, but was plain 
and simple by nature. His dinner always consisted 
of two apples, and when traveling on the train he 
preferred a common passenger coach or smoker to 
a Pullman. 

His early rearing as a lad on the farm perhaps 
instilled these simple habits of life. His education 
was obtained in the country schools and he later 
attended a college in Lafayette county. He was a 
native of Johnson county, Missouri, and after he had 
read law several years, he began the practice of his 
profession in Warrensburg. 



Francis Marion Cockrell, 1834-1915. 229 




FRANCIS MARION COCKRELL 



230 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War he allied himself 
with the Southern cause and enlisted as a private. 
His company elected him captain and he arose rapidly 
to the rank of brigadier-general. He was present 
in many of the important battles of the Civil War 
and fought courageously for the cause of the Con- 
federacy. When not in battle, he drilled his troops 
so well that ''Cockrell's Brigade" of fighting Mis- 
sourians was said to be one of the best drilled and 
most courageous brigades in the Southern army. 

After the war, Cockrell returned to Missouri and 
again began the practice of his profession in partner- 
ship w4th Governor Thomas T. Crittenden. The 
firm was known as ''Crittenden and Corkrell.'' This 
firm and the firm of ''Philips and Vest," of Sedalia, 
were knowm all over the State as the ''Big Four." 
They were powerful in politics in Missouri and were 
regarded as among the most able lawyers and speak- 
ers in the state. While Cockrell was not the orator 
that Vest was, nor had he the statesmanship of Ben- 
ton, he was more secure in the hearts of the people 
than either during his political career of thirty years. 
There was something about the man that drew 
people to him and made them repose confidence in 
his integrity, honesty and ability. Even his political 
opponents in Washington were glad to grant him any 
personal favor; while here in Missouri he was idol- 
ized. 

It is said that when the Democratic National Con- 
vention miet in St. Louis to nominate a candidate 
for the Presidency, that on the mention. of the name 
of Cockrell, ten thousand persons rose and cheered 
in acclamation. The nomination of Cockrell was made 



Francis Marion Cockrell, 1834-1915. 231 

by that beloved Missourian, Hon. Champ Clark, and 
seconded by William J. Bryan. The latter said that 
if Cockrell were nominated, he would be willing for 
him to write the Democratic platform with his own 
hand. The confidence his friends reposed in him was 
never violated. 

He had many opportunities to become a wealthy 
man without perhaps, violating even the law of the 
land, but he was honest both by principle and by 
nature. It is said that he had not a single vice or 
even a bad habit, except smoking. He was deeply 
religious and a strong supporter of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church. He took an active part in 
Sunday-school work and during his long political 
career aided in every way the work of the church. 
He died as he had lived — a fearless, patriotic honest 
man. 



GEORGE GRAHAM VEST, 1830-1904 

Missoin-rs Little Gia)it 

/^NE evening in the fall of 1881 a small company 
^^ of men from New York City were dining in a 
western frontier hotel. They were drinking wine in 
celebration of something concerning which they 
talked loudly and with careless tongue. Others in 
the dining room soon learned that this gaiety was the 
result of a tour from which the New Yorkers had 
just returned. They had been promised the lease 
of a large and rich part of the public land of the 
United States. Before they saw it, they knew that it 
was valuable. Now that they had seen it, hey realized 
it was a prize much greater than they had dreamed 
and that it meant a fortune for each of them. 

At a table in a coraer of the dining room sat a 
small, stern man with iron-grey hair and military 
mustache. The noisy New Yorkers did not observe 
him and he was trying not to observe them until he 
heard one of them utter two words : ''Yellowstone 
Park." 

Taking advantage of the ignorance of the people 
of the United States this crowd of New York finan- 
ciers had persuaded the United States Department 
of Interior to help them obtain quietly from the 
Government a practically perpetual lease of the 
nation's magnificent park — 5,500 square miles of 
invaluable property. For a small sum the Yellow- 
stone Park was to be turned over to these few private 
persons and they were to have free hand in enriching 
themselves. 

(232) 



George Graham Vest, 1830-1904. 2S3 

The small, .stern looking man had come to this 
little out-of-the-way South Dakota village to say a 
last gocd-bye to a dying friend. It was m.ere chance 
that he was in the dining room. 

As soon as Congress assembled, this man, who 
was a newly elected United States Senator, arose 
and performed his first great service to the nation. 
He demanded the documents in relation to the pro- 
posed lease of Yellowstone Park. He exposed the 
men who were trying to enrich themselves at the 
expense of the nation. In an outburst of orator\' 
based on undisputed evidence, he revealed to the 
Senate and the nation the proposed robbery. The 
New Yorkers wondered how the thing had leaked out 
until one of them recognized in the new Senator the 
small, stern figure who sat in the comer of the din- 
ing room out in South Dakota. The victory- was easy, 
but was none the less valuable. It showed the 
country the character which this new statesman 
possessed — alertness, keenness, courage and hone.sty. 
By going to the land grabbers, he would have made 
a fortune. He preferred public .service. 

Such was the first appearance and first service of 
importance of Senator George Graham Vest, who 
represented Missouri in the United States Senate from 
1879 to 1903. 

One bitter cold day in the v.inter of 1903, the 
United States Senate sat spell-bound listening to 
this same small, stem man who was now in his 
seventy-fourth year. He was one of the leaders of 
the helpless Democratic minority part>', and was so 
feeble that he weighed barely ninety pounds. A man 
stood by to support him in case he collapsed. He 



234 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 




GEORGE GRAHAM VEST 



George Graham Vest, 1830-1904. 235 

was a mere mite of a human being. His body was 
so small and shrunk that his head was scarcely a 
a foot and a half above the desk. His hair was 
white and his skin had a waxen pallor. His mouth 
seemed to be set in the rigor of death. 

Such was the astonishing spectacle which the 
United States Senate watched with amazement. 
The man was Senator Vest, and he was demanding 
the repeal of the duty on coal. His speech was calm 
and simple, a protest backed with unanswerable 
facts against a tariff monoply on coal, for which the 
people would have to pay. The protest seemed hope- 
less because directed against the very foundation of 
principles of the Republican party which was then 
in control of the United States Senate. Statesman 
after statesman attempted to answer the speaker. 
Their statements were met with unanswerable facts 
and argum.ents by the ''Little Giant" from Missouri 
until finally the majority party receded from its 
position and no tariff duty was laid on coal at that 
session. 

This was the last public service of this remarkable 
man. They typify his life's work as a public ser- 
vant. Honesty and ability marked his entire career. 
Few men in Missouri history have had more in- 
teresting career than George Graham Vest. He was 
one of the most successful lawyers of his day. He 
was an orator who swayed men's reason and sympa- 
thy as few speakers could. As a statesman he re- 
presented Missouri in the Confederate Senate for 
two years and later in the United States Senate for 
twenty-four years. He helped shape the policy of 
the Southern states during the Civil War and then 



236 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

forwarded the Union's welfare for nearly a quarter 
of a century. Altho a Democrat, his law partner and 
many of his friends were Republicans. With op- 
portunities to become wealthy if principles were 
sacrificed, he preferred to die a poor man. His first 
speech in the United States Senate was a success — 
his last was a triumph over a majority party. His 
training as a student, his great ability, courage and 
honesty, would have enabled him to have succeeded 
in perhaps any one of a half dozen professions. He 
tried three — law, oratory and statescraft — and gained 
distinction in each; as a writer, journalist and actor, 
he would also have been prominent. His was a re- 
markable mind such as few men possess. 

George Graham Vest was born in Frankfort, 
Kentucky, December 6, 1830, and died at the town of 
Sweet Springs, Missouri, on August 9, 1904. His 
parents came from Virginia and were of Scotch-Irish 
stock. Both were God-fearing members of the Pres- 
byterian church. His father was a carpenter and 
builder, and was highly respected. Altho in poor 
circumstances, his ambition was to give his children 
a good education. He died, however, when his son 
was very young. George was reared by his mother. 
His education was directed by her and much of his 
later success in life was due to this thoro training. 
He became a deep student of the Bible and in most 
of his public speeches quoted from that book. 

He had a remarkable memory and read widely 
even as a boy. At the age of ten years he had read 
every one of Sir Walter Scott's novels and to the 
end of his days could quote pages from the works of 
that great novelist. 



George Graham Vest, 1830-1904. 237 

He entered college and was a brilliant student. He 
then taught school and for a while was a newspaper 
correspondent. 

His ambition, however, was not in the field of 
letters but in the field of law. He entered Transyl- 
vania University in Kentucky and graduated at the 
early age of twenty-one years. He was now ready 
to practice law. 

With his sheep-skin in his pocket he decided to 
go West, and in 1853 set out for California. He 
proceeded no farther than Missouri, however, and 
in 1853 settled at Georgetown, Pettis county, Missouri. 
Three years later he removed to Booneville where he 
entered into competition with the leading lawyer of 
the Missouri bar. Until 1860 he was a strong sup- 
porter of the Union, but at the outbreak of the Civil 
War he joined the Southern cause and served the 
state, first as a Congressman in the Confederate 
Congress, and then as her Senator in that body. 

After the war he returned to Missouri and resumed 
the practice of his profession at Sedalia, where he 
formed a partnership with Judge John F. Phillips. 
He was elected to the United States Senate in 1879 
and served continuously for four terms. 

Vest was truly a remarkable man. He was hve 
feet and six inches in height and weighed about one 
hundred and ten pounds. He had fiery red hair, his 
fair face was sprinkled with boyish freckles, and his 
neck was very short. His eyes were blue with a 
tinge of gray. Judge Henry Lamm says that Vest 
had a form of the singular make-up of being almost 
as tall when sitting as when standing. He had an 
exceptionally large head and very broad shoulders, 



238 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

such as would have' marked him as a prominent per- 
son in any crowd. 

Many are the stories told of this Missouri states- 
man. Few of his speeches have been preserved in 
writing but many of the old settlers and lawyers 
can tell stories by the scores that were related by 
this man. 

He married a Kentucky lady and brought her 
first to his boarding house in Georgetown. It is said 
that his landlord had frequently been nettled by the 
remarks Vest made regarding the food. When Vest 
proudly introduced his wife to the landlord, the latter 
thought it was an excellent opportunity to have 
some fun. So when he young lawyer asked him. 
what he thought of his wife, the old gentleman 
replied : 

''By gum, George, you must have cotched her in 
a pinch for a husband." 

Mrs. Vest did not like her surroundings as well 
as her husband did. She saw that life was too easy 
and that Vest was not force to exert himself to make 
a living. He was the best lawyer in the town but 
this was due to the small number in the profesison. 
Vest was too much inclined to hunt and fish, so his 
wife wanted him to go w^here he would have to strug- 
gle to be successful. She persuaded him to move 
to Boonville and here he met some of the great 
lawyers of Missouri. The effect on Vest was to make 
him study harder and exert himself more. It was 
not long until he was recognized as one of the most 
brilliant in the state. 

He had no superior before a jury. His voice was 
well modulated and he knew how to present either 
reason or sentim.ent to move men. At no time was 



George Graham Vest, 1830-1904. 239 

he at 'loss for a word and never taken back by any 
questions or remark. He knew how to effectively 
defeat an opponent's proposition and how to break 
the force of a hostile witness testifying. In one case 
one witness, who was a very small man, testified 
that Vest's client was drunk. This damaging state- 
ment was easily answered by Vest in addressing the 
jury. He asked them what so little a man as the 
witness could possibly know about drunkenness. 

''Why, said Vest, ''he is so slight he would get 
drunk in sitting on a rotten apple." 

The next witness was a three hundred pound 
policeman, and he also testified that Vest's client 
was drunk. 

"Listen, when you pass, gentlemen of the jury," 
said Vest, "and you will hear the beer splash in him 
like water in a shaken rain-barrel." 

In another case a man by the name of Warner 
was charged with killing his son-in-law. His daugh- 
ter testified that her husband had prowled around 
her father's house in the dead of night presumably 
for hostile purposes. 

"Did you see him?" asked the prosecuting attorney. 

"No." 

"How, then did you know it was your husband?" 

"By his foot-fall on the plank," said the wife. 

This statement was ridiculed as being unnatural 
and unreliable. Here Vest triumphantly sustained 
the lady by a single sentence. 

"Not know her husband's foot-fall? Why, gentle- 
men of the jury, my wife not only knows me when 
my foot strikes the walk to my house at night, but 
she knows where I have been and what I have been 
doing." 



240 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

These stories and many more are told by 'Judge 
Henry Lamm, of Sedalia, who knew Vest well. Judge 
Lamm also relates how there once lived in Sedalia a 
rather pompous and stilted lawyer whom Vest greatly 
disliked. One day Vest described this lawyer in these 
few words: 

"If had a few turkey feathers stuck in the 

right part of his body, he would strut himself to 
death." 

Vest was an orator of power. He could sway a 
crowd as easily as a jury. He delighted in public 
speaking and his pathos and humor never dulled. 
He employed figures of speech, sarcasm, reason and 
fancy, and made use of each tool in his great store- 
house of knowledge. His speeches were never long, 
there were no repetitions and no dry details. His 
language was pure and he was never at a loss for 
the right word. He rarely made a speech outside 
of Missouri, except in Congress. The fact that he 
was elected to the United States Senate for four 
consecutive terms and sat in that body for nearly 
a quarter of a century, is suflficient proof of his 
power over the public. He hated the city and loved 
the country, where he knew people with whom he 
had been reared since his boyhood days. He was 
fascinating in conversation and eagerly sought after 
in the court room, the legislative chamber, and in his 
own humble cottage at Sweet Springs. 

Nothing better illustrates the remarkable power 
of the man as an orator and conversationalist than 
the following story told by Judge John F. Phillips, 
his law partner for years. 

During the Civil War the Missouri soldiers under 
the command of General Jo Shelby were to elect a 



George Graham Vest, 1830-1904. 241 

Representative in the Confederate Congress. They 
were down in the hills of Arkansas, having been 
forced to retreat before the Union troops. Vest 
was a candidate for the place. His only military 
service was as staff officer with General Sterling 
Price and he was not regarded by the soldiers as of 
their class. So when he appeared before Shelby's 
men in camp to present his claims for their support, 
his eloquence did not create the enthusiasm desired. 
Col. George Rothbon was a prominent candidate. 
He commanded one of the fighting regiments of Shel- 
by's brigade and was greatly admired by the soldiers. 
Tho he was no match for Vest as a speaker and did 
not possess Vest's magnetism, he had the love of his 
fellow-soldiers. John T. Crisp was captain of a 
company in Rothbon's regiment. He was an ex- 
perienced politician and the soldiers did whatever 
he directed. He was an outspoken supporter of 
Rothbon and Vest felt that Crisp could alone gain 
the votes of the soldiers. 

After the war. Vest told in his peculiar way how 
he went about winning the support of Crisp. He 
asked Crisp one morning to take a walk in the woods 
just to enjoy the sweet odor of the trees and hear 
the birds sing. Finding a log for a seat. Crisp who sus- 
pected Vest's plan, said: 

''Vest, while I hope I misjudge you, allow me to 
say at the outset, once and for all, I am committed 
to Rothbon for our Confederate Congressman. He 
is colonel of a regiment, a splendid soldier, and a 
lawyer of worth. He deserves the honor and I must 
.support him, and every man in my company is for 
him." 



242 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

Turning his keen blue eyes on Crisp, Vest replied: 

"My dear captain, you entirely misconceive my 
purpose in this talk. What I wish to say to you is 
that I have just returned from a visit at Richm.ond 
where I learned many inside things. Among these 
I learned that the Confederacy is soon to be recognized 
by the countries of Europe. President Jefferson 
Davis asked me to suggest someone to be sent as 
ambassador to Italy. John" said Vest, dropping his 
voice to a whisper, ''have you ever read much of 
Italy?" 

Crisp's big toe was boring a hole in the ground 
under fallen leaves. 

"Yes, George," he said with enthusiasm, "yes, yes, 
go on." 

"I knew it," said Vest, with a sigh of relief, "I 
knew a man of your scholarship would not be ignorant 
of the history and romance of that wonderful land. 
Think," he said, letting his hand rest on Crisp's 
knee, "think of the charms of Rome, the m.atchless 
climate, the blue sky, and the flowers that bloom 
thruout the year. Think of the beautiful women and 
dreamy music. You are a man of genius, of splendid 
personalty, a diplomat by nature. Your present 
position is unworthy of a man of your ability. Here 
you are down in the Arkansas hills, half naked, ab- 
solutely in tatters, your hair cropping out thru the 
top and sides of a dilapidated straw hat, sockless, 
your toes out of your worn-out shoes, while you have 
the spirit of a knight errant, and the eloquence and 
address of an accomplished courtier. You ought to be 
at the court in Italy." 

Vest said that he could see Crisp's big toe, work- 
ing outside of the shoe, plowing deeper and deeper 



George Graham Vest, 1830-1904. 243 

in the ground from nervous excitement. He leaned 
over Vest's shoulder — 

''George," he said, in a choking voice, "what is 
the salary?" 

''The salary," said Vest musically, "is seventy-five 
hundred dollars a year, payable in gold." 

"George," said Crisp, laying his arm affectionately 
around Vest's shoulder, "Rothbon is not fit to go to 
Congress. He is no orator and is no statesman. 
Rothbon is a soldier and he should be kept w^ith the 
army in the field and you should be sent to Richmond." 

"John," said Vest, grasping his hand, "I was not 
deceived. You are a born diplomat. Italy is yours." 

They clasped hands and v^^alked back to camp. The 
result v^as that every man voted for Vest, but no 
ambassador of the Confederacy w^as ever sent to 
Italy. Crisp never enjoyed this story. 

By many Vest was regarded as being merely a 
brilliant m.an. That he was brilliant is admitted by 
all, but he was a student and believed in industry. 
He said that these magic words should be placed 
above the doorway of every university, college and 
school, and over the hearthstone of every home: — 
"Self-control and continous effort." 

He was a wide reader and selected at will from 
his fund of knowledge that his memory retained to 
beautify and make instructive his many addresses. 
He was a leader of men whether in private conversa- 
tion with a few companions or before an assemblage 
of thousands. His store of stories was inexhaustible 
and he possessed the happy faculty of being able to 
invent new ones on the moment. He was never at 
loss for an argument or a reply. He dominated in 



244 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

a kindly way whatever undertaking he began. He 
was as fascinating in conversation in his little cot- 
tage home as he was in his great public speeches 
in the Senate. He was frank and honest and this 
combined with his wisdom made him a man much 
sought after. 

Few of his addresses have been preserved. Those 
that are still accessible, however, are jewels of 
thought. One of the most classical speeches was 
delivered in a lawsuit over a dog. While attending 
court in Warrensburg he was suddenly called upon to 
assist in a law suit for damages over the wrongful 
killing of a hound. He took no part in the trial 
until the evidence was in, when rising he broke into 
one of the most rem.arkable eulogies on the dog that 
is preserved in the English language today. Judge 
Henry Lamm says he has studied this as preserved 
in print, and considers it fully equal to any piece of 
writing ever penned on the dog. The following is a 
copy of this beautiful speech that has been printed 
far and wide over the nation: 

Eulogy of the Dog 

''Gentlemen of the Jury: The best human friend 
a man has in the world may turn against him and 
become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has 
reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those 
who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we 
trust with our happiness and our good name may 
become traitors to their faith. The money that a 
man has he may lose. It flies away from him, 
perhaps, when he needs it most. A man's reputation 
may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. 
The people who are prone to fall on their knees to 



George Graham Vest, 1830-1904. 245 

do us honor when success is with us may be the first 
to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its 
cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish 
friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the 
one that never deceives him, the one that never proves 
ungrateful and treacherous, is his dog. 

"A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in 
poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on 
the cold ground where the wintry wind blows and 
the snow drifts fiercely, if only he may be near his 
master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no 
food to offer. He will lick the wounds and sores that 
come in encounter with the roughness of the world. 
He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he 
were a prince. When all other friends desert he 
remains. When riches take wings and reputation 
falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as 
the sun in its journey thru the heavens. If fortune 
drives the master forth an outcast in the world, 
friendless and hom.eless, the faithful dog asks no 
higher privilege than that of accompanying, to guard 
against danger, to fight against his enemies, and 
when the last scene of all comes and when death takes 
the master in its embrace and his body is laid away 
in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends 
pursue their way, there by the graveside may the 
noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his 
eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and 
true even in death." 



RICHARD PARKS BLAND, 1835-1899 

An American Commoner 

npHE lives of great men are the best guides for 
-■■ young and old. We are all hero worshipers. 
The career of a great man, his speeches and acts, has 
shaped many lives. This is true in religion, science, 
politics, business, art, and in other fields of knowl- 
edge. When our hero is both good and great, honest 
and strong, pure and loyal, simple and modest, — then 
we are fortunate in making his life our guide. 
, Such a man was Richard Parks Bland. He was 
not a great orator, he was not highly educated at 
college, he was not a wealthy man, and he was not 
a politician with magnetism, but he possessed those 
higher qualities of mind, such, as honesty, loyalty, 
sincerity, sympathy, and courage, that made his 
friends love him and his opponents respect him. He 
was a public man for over a quarter of a century, 
but not once during those years were his honesty 
and ability questioned. His life was clean and pure. 
He was a m.an of the common people and he labored 
for them. He has been called the ''American 
Commoner." 

Richard Parks Bland was born in a log cabin in 
Kentucky on August 19, 1835. His parents were 
also natives of that state. They w^ere poor in worldly 
goods but rich in those priceless qualities of honesty 
and courage. His father died soon and the care of a 
large family fell on the shoulders of his mother. 
Young Dick as he was called when a boy and also 
later when he was a Congressman, worked hard on 

(246) 



Richard Parks Bland, 1835-1899. 247 




248 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

a farm in the summer. He received only six dollars 
a month but from this he saved enough to obtain 
an education. He attended the country schools in his 
district and then entered an academy. This was all 
the schooling he received. At the early age of 
seventeen years, he taught school and two years 
later came to Missouri. After teaching a term in 
this state, he went to Nevada, one of the richest 
mining centers in the world. Here he was admitted 
to the bar, practiced law, and was elected a county 
official. 

In 1865 he returned to Missouri, and settled at 
Rolla, where he practiced law with his brother. 
Four years later he moved to Lebanon, Laclede 
county. He bought a farm near Lebanon and made 
this his home until his death on June 15, 1899. 

Shortly after settling in Laclede county, his friends 
persuaded him to run for Congress. He was elected 
in 1872 and was reelected every two years except in 
1894. He served twelve two-year terms in Congress — 
a period of twenty-four years — and on his death had 
been elected for his thirteenth term. During these 
years his congressional district had included about 
thirty counties, stretching from the Missouri River 
to the Arkansas line. To have given satisfaction to 
such a large number of counties is proof of his 
popularity. 

The story is told that while he was serving his 
ninth term several bright young men were sitting 
around an old-fashioned fireplace in a Jefferson City 
hotel, discussing Mr. Bland. They agreed among 
themselves that Mr. Bland was a man of one idea, 
that he was not a great man or even a superior man. 



Richard Parks Bland, 1835-1899. 249 

A stranger stepped forward and they asked him: 
''What do you think about it?" 
''Well," said the stranger, "I want to ask you a 
question or two. Mr. Bland is serving his eighteenth 
year in Congress. Do you know of a single public 
speech which he has made or a single vote which he 
has cast that has been criticized by the voters who 
elected him to Congress?" 

They all agreed that they did not. Then the 
stranger continued: 

"First and last Mr. Bland has represented nearly 
thirty counties, and a man must have something 
superior in him, he must certainly have stood for the 
things the people believe in, or in all these years he 
would have received some criticism." 

As a statesman, "R. P. Bland made a name that will 
live in history. His work in Congress, his public 
speeches and his writings, made him an authority 
on all matters pertaining to money. He was read not 
only in America but in Europe and in other lands. 
He was the greatest advocate of the silver dollar 
that the world has seen. In fact he was better 
known as "Silver Dick" Bland than as R. P. Bland. 
He believed that this country should have more metal 
money, that is, gold and silver money. He believed 
that silver should be coined into money as freely as 
gold. The United States Government by a law 
passed in 1873, had stopped the coinage of silver. 
After bitter struggling in Congress, Bland succeeded 
in 1878 in having passed a law that restored the 
coinage of silver to some degree. It provided that 
there should be coined not less than two and not more 
than four million silver dollars each month. This is 



250 Missouri's Hall of Fame. • 

called the Bland-Allison act. It did not provide for 
the free and unlimited coinage of silver and did not 
satisfy Bland, but it was the best he could do. He 
continued to work for his cause. He became the 
greatest authority on the silver question. After 
many years of exciting and courageous struggling the 
Bland act was finally repealed. 

The fight had now become a national question. The 
Republican party opposed the free coinage of silver. 
It stood for a single-standard metal money and that 
metal was gold. It presented to the people of the 
United States the reasons that gold alone should 
measure the value of money. Its leaders said that 
the principal countries of the world had a gold 
standard and that the United States must have one if 
it continued to trade with them. They said that if we 
placed gold and silver on an equality as money, the 
European countries would pay in silver for our pro- 
duce that they bought but would make us pay in gold 
for what be bought of them. If this were done, they 
said we would soon have all the silver in the world and 
little of the gold. They said that panics would come 
and finally we as a nation would become bankrupt and 
be unable to pay our debts. 

The Democratic party stood for double-standard 
metal money and those metals were gold and silver. 
They said that if the United States adopted these 
two metals, other countries would follow. They 
said that the people needed more money and that 
more money meant higher prices and higher wages. 

When the Democratic national convention met in 
Chicago in 1896, it adopted Bland's silver principles 
but instead of nominating this greatest leader of the 



Richard Parks Bland, 1835-1899. 251 

Democratic party for President, it chose W. J. Bryan, 
of Nebraska. Bland was not present at the conven- 
tion, he remained on his farm near Lebanon. He re- 
fused to seek the office, the office must seek him. 
He even telegraphed his friends in Chicago this 
remarkably unselfish message: 
"Put the cause above the man." 
The famous campaign of 1896 was on. In some 
respects it was one of the most bitter Presidential 
campaigns. Without the least regret or hard feel- 
ing Bland worked for the election of Bryan. The 
noted Nebraskan said shortly after Bland's death 
that in this campaign no man gave him more earnest 
and sincere support. The defeat of his party at this 
election combined with the previous repeal of the 
Bland act, was a bitter blow to the silver chafnpion. 
He looked with distrust on the Eastern financiers. 
He saw in them, the power to make or unmake the 
prosperity of this nation. They controlled the 
money, but, said Bland, if you make money plentiful 
no man or set of men can control it. It is only 
because money is scarce and dear that the Eastern 
financiers are able to control it, said Bland. The 
man on the farm, in the shop and the store, is 
dependent on the Eastern bankers, but he would be 
freed if money were plentiful. 

Conditions have changed since the days of '96. 
Bland lies in his grave which the State of Missouri 
has marked with a monument. Men's opinions on the 
money question have changed. . Today money is 
plentiful, and money is cheap, and prices and wages 
are high In these last twenty-five years corn has 
increased in price from fifteen cents to one dollar 



252 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 










"f^ 




Monument to 

RICHARD PARKS BLAND 

' At Lebanon. Missouri. 



Richard Parks Bland, 1835-1899. 253 

and a quarter a bushel, wheat from fifty cents to two 
dollars, but shoes have also increased in price from 
one dollar and fifty cents to five dollars a pair. 
Men still disagree on whether Bland was right or 
wrong, but all men, both Republicans and Democrats, 
bow their heads in reverence to the honesty and the 
courageous convictions of Bland. 

Bland was a man of the common people. He 
believed in them and trusted them, they believed in 
him and trusted him. One who knew him said this 
of Bland: 

''I have never known a cleaner and more upright 
man in public life." 

His honesty was unquestioned. Once he was pre- 
sented with a rich silver dinner set by his admirers 
in Colorado. He loved those friends, he respected 
their kind gift, but he refused it, saying that some 
might find fault with him if he accepted. He would 
not have even a suspicion of dishonesty or bribery on 
his fair name. 

His opportunities to make money and still do it 
legally were many, but not once did he yield to the 
temptation when he thought that it was wrong or 
that he had not earned it. When he first went to 
Washington in 1873, he had some money and a farm ; 
when he died in 1899, he left only his farm. After 
twenty-four years of service as a public official, he 
was poorer than before. 

Bland was not a member of any church. His 
parents were Methodists and his wife was a Roman 
Catholic. Some small politicians in '96 publicly 
censured him because of his wife's religion and also 
because she was educating her children in that 
faith. Bland's answer touched the heart of all: 



254 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

"Yes," he said, ''my wife is a Roman Catholic and 
I am a Protestant, and shall live and die one; but 
my great regret is that I am not half such a Christian 
as the woman who bears my name and is the mother 
of my children. 

Bland was not an orator, but he was a convincing 
speaker. His presence was not commanding, being 
of medium height. His voice was usually low and his 
manners were sim.ple. He was modest and bashful. 
One never would have thought that he could succeed 
as a public man. His strength lay in another direc- 
tion. Altho neither wit nor oratory graced his 
speeches, he was one of the most convincing speakers 
in Congress. He used simple and direct language. 
He went to the heart of his subject. Serious, honest, 
and courageous, he feared no man, no argument, no 
debate. Every public speech of his breathes love of 
truth and devotion to principle. Some of the great- 
est orators in Congress feared this plain-spoken man 
more than the most polished speaker. He read 
widely and studied hard. As a result of his thoro 
preparation on every subject and of his convincing 
honesty, the words of Bland carried weight. More- 
over, all admired him for his consideration of the 
feelings of others. He never tried to hurt, but always 
tried to help. 

The soul of this man was big enough to include both 
children and adults. Boys and girls loved him, and 
he loved them. He would lie down on the floor or 
in the yard, and romp and play with his sons and 
daughters. He also loved the children of others. 
One day in Washington while Bland was riding in a 
street car, a lady entered with her baby. The 



Richard Parks Bland, 1835-1899. 255 

Congressman looked at the baby, smiled, took it on 
his lap, and began playing with it. The mother paid 
no attention to her child, until Bland said: 

''Madam, here is your baby. I must get off here." 
One could tell story after story about this big- 
hearted man. He stood for the highest and the best 
in public life. He was a broad-minded man, a man 
of keen intellect, and a hard working man. Above 
all, however, he was an honest man who labored for 
the common people and not for himself. 



WILLIAM WARNER, 1839-1916 

Soldier, Statesman and Public Citizen 

LIVERY Missouri boy can read the life of Major 
^-^ William Warner with profit. Few men have 
started in life under greater difficulties and have 
risen by their own efforts to higher positions. His 
career reveals what industry and ideals can ac- 
complish. He was a worker and a student, a states- 
man and a gentleman, a soldier with the heart of a 
brave man and the sympathy of a child. The name 
of this man will long be remembered. He fought 
fearlessly, whether on the battlefield or in a political 
campaign. He stood for honesty and progress. That 
his work was appreciated, is shown by the public 
positions he held. He did much good for his city, 
state and country — they honored him for his services. 
Born in Wisconsin on June 11, 1839, little Willie 
Warner — as he was called — was left an orphan at the 
age of six years. His five brothers and sisters were 
poor. He had no friends. His parents had left him 
neither money nor land. He was homeless, friendless, 
and in poverty. Too young to be employed by others, 
Willie began to work for himself. He lived in the 
lead mine district of Wisconsin. Around the mines 
were large piles of refuse. He picked over these 
refuse heaps for the lead ore that had been thrown 
away. He sold his findings to the mine owners and 
made a living. This work did not last long, for the 
mine owners learned from the shrewd lad and soon 
employed cheaper labor to do this. 

(256) 



William Warner, 1839-1916. 



257 




WILLIAM WARNEPv 



258 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

Willie then began driving the old mine horse. He 
did this for three years. The horse at the mine shaft 
was an intelligent animal. It did its work with little 
prompting from the boy. It had learned that when 
the miners in the shaft rattled the chain, the bucket 
was full, and it started without word from its 
driver. When the bucket reached the top the horse 
stopped and backed. Willie noticed this and studied 
the situation. 

One day he reasoned, ''That horse knows just as 
much as I do. He really could do this work without 
me and might just as well be driving me as I driving 
him. I am going to learn to read and write and 
then I will know more than he does." 

That night he told the keeper of a country store 
of his desire to get an education, and then he bought 
a primer. The merchant helped him with his first 
lesson and encouraged him. From that moment the 
primer and the boy were inseparable. He studied 
in his room until long after bed time and took the 
book to the mine shaft so he might learn more in 
reading. 

When he was ten years old he had learned to read 
fairly well and could write some. The store-keeper 
approved the boy's energy and ambition and employed 
him to sell goods, giving him slightly higher wages. 
In five years he had saved enough money to pay his 
way two years in school. At the end of that time 
he was without funds but his education was fairly 
underway. 

During the next four years he taught school, 
reading law at night. He also attended the Univer- 
sity of Michigan. So well did he apply himself that 



William Warner, 1839-1916. 259 

at the early age of twenty-one years he was admitted 
to practice law in Wisconsin. 

The Civil War broke out and young Warner re- 
sponded quickly. He enlisted as a private and served 
thruout the war. He rose in rank and received a 
major's commission. 

At the close of the war he came to Missouri and 
after visiting St. Louis, St. Joseph and Kansas City, 
he decided to locate in the latter place. 

With a young lawyer friend from Wisconsin, 
Warner opened a law office in a little room, eight by 
ten feet in the old city hall. Their equipment was 
only thirty-four volumes of books and three chairs, 
bought second-hand. 

Their first year was a hard one. They received 
few cases. It was not long, however, until Major 
Warner had made many friends. He was sociable 
and obliging, besides having an exceptional mind. 

' In the spring of 1867 he was elected city attorney 
and the following year was elected circuit attorney. 
After holding this position two years, the Republican 
party, of which he was a member, nominated him for 
mayor of Kansas City in 1870. In spite of the fact 
that Kansas City was Democratic, Major Warner 
was successful — being the only Republican elected. 

He served as mayor with honesty and capacity. He 
gave Kansas City a good administration and did 
everything in his power to upbuild the town. 

At the end of his term he worked for the election 
of the Democratic candidate for mayor. He did this 
because he thought this man was more honest and 
more capable than the candidate of the Republican 
party. This shows the character of Major Warner. 



260 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

He held other positions of worth and importance 
and performed his duties well. He was appointed 
United States District Attorney for the Western 
District of Missouri in 1882 and was re-appointed in 
1898 and 1902. He was elected to Congress in 1884 
and was active in that body advocating good laws. 
In 1892 he was candidate on the Republican ticket 
for Governor of Missouri, but was defeated. In 1905 
he was elected United States Senator by the Missouri 
Legislature and held this office for six years. He died 
at his home in Kansas City on October 4, 1916. 

Major Warner was not an ordinary man. He stood 
for honesty and progress and had a remarkably 
broad and keen mind. He saw the possibilities of 
Missouri River transportation and labored to arouse 
sentiment on developing water navigation. He advo- 
cated military preparedness, believing that a nation 
should always be sufficiently armed to repel any 
attack made on it. 

Having fought in the Civil War as a Union soldier, 
his friends among the veterans of the North were 
thousands. He was twice elected Commander of the 
Department of Missouri of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, and in 1888 was elected Commander-in- 
Chief of the National G. A. R. He helped the old 
Union soldiers in many ways. It was largely due to 
him that the Soldiers' Home at Leavenworth, Kansas, 
was established. His office in the Federal Building 
in Kansas City was a regular meeting place for the 
old soldiers. None of them appealed to him for help 
without receiving assistance. Even some of the 
''wearers of the grey" came to know and love Major 
Warner. He had the reputation of never turning 
awav an old soldier who was in distress. 



William Warner, 1839-1916. 261 

He was remarkably kind hearted and frequently 
rendered assistance to others when he could ill 
afford to do so. His opportunities to become rich were 
many, but he died a comparatively poor man. 

Although he engaged long in politics and was always 
a man of decided opinions, he seldom made personal 
enemies. His opponents respected him; many came 
to love him. Some called him a ''fire-eater" because 
he was so vigorous in his speeches. He had rugged 
oratory and was a popular speaker. Frequently dur- 
ing his political fights, persons on the other side took 
offense at what he said in his open, frank way. One 
of the most bitter fights on Major Warner occurred 
in the late 90's. The person making it was a man 
Major Warner practically had made, politically. After 
the battle when the Warner forces had won, it was 
told the Major that this former friend, but bitter per- 
sonal opponent in the campaign just lost, was in pover- 
ty. Some of Warner's friends expected him to take 
satisfaction in the plight of the man who had been so 
unfaithful to him. To the surprise of many, Warner 
said, ''Well, we will have to take care of him." He then 
proceeded to obtain for the man a good position. 
He never cherished hatred or revenge. When a fight 
was over whether the battle was for or against him. 
he forgave his opponents. He always said in this 
respect, "I never keep books on men," — meaning that 
he never remembered or tried to remember the 
things that had been said or done against him by 
others. It was this lovable and forgiving part of his 
nature that did much to win him a high place in the 
minds of friends and foes. 



262 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

Major Warner could always be depended on to 
fight for the best interests in his city, state and 
nation. Age did not lessen his interests and loyalty. 
He was always on the side of the people and this 
strengthened him in popular regard. There was no 
kinder or more sympathetic man in Kansas City. 
His heart was touched by every pitiful story and he 
would always listen to the troubles of others and 
help in any way he could. His life will be a guide 
to many young men. 



CHAMP CLARK, 1850— 

Missouri's First Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives. 
MISSOURI has produced many eminent men. 
More leaders and greater ones has she sent to 
Washington than have come from any other state 
west of the Mississippi River. Missouri gave Benton, 
the greatest of western statesmen; Linn, the most 
beloved of United States Senators; Bates, the first 
western cabinet officer; Green, one of the ablest 
western orators; Bland, the first and one of the 
greatest western advocates of the new democracy; -— 
and Champ Clark, the second western speaker of the ^ 
United States House of Representatives. These men 
are only a few of the many whose names are written 
in Missouri's Hall of Fame. Of these, however, not 
one has reached the President's chair, nor has any 
state west of the Mississippi River given the United 
States a President. They have tried but failed. 

Two m.en have come nearest success. One from 
Nebraska, who was the choice of his party three 
times. The other from Missouri, who in 1912 failed 
to be chosen as the leader of his party by only a 
few votes, altho several times he received a majority 
of the votes. If this Missouri man had been chosen 
as leader, he probably would have been elected by the 
Democratic party as President instead of Woodrow 
Wilson. He came nearer the White House, where 
the president lives, than any man from the West. 
His name is Champ Clark. 

The life of this man is a story of poverty, industry, 
ambition and success. It shows what can be done in 

(263) 



264 



Missouri's Hall of Fame. 



this land of equal opportunity if one is willing to 
study and determined to rise. Champ Clark succeed- 
ed as a statesman, but he would have succeeded also 
as a lawyer, teacher, preacher, author, or journalist. 

His life is interesting, 
his career is not yet 
ended, and to Miss- 
ourians his name will 
long be remembered. 

Born in Kentucky 
on March 7, 1850, he 
came of good Ameri- 
can ancestry. His fa- 
ther was born in New 
Jersey, his mother in 
Kentucky. His mother 
died when young 
Clark w^as only three 
years old, but he was 
well reared by his fa- 
ther and relatives. 
His father was a poor 
man, a devout Chris- 
tian and a staunch 
Democrat. His grand- 
mother was a Whig 
and was determined 
that young Clark 
should be a Whig. 
She would bribe him with maple sugar to say: 
"I am a Whig." 

Then his father would take him out to the barn, 
show him a pony that the boy wanted, and ask: 




CHAMP CLARK 



Chapm Clark, 1850- 265 

''Now, my son, are you a Whig or a Democrat?" 

Of course the boy said he was a Democrat and this 
is what he later became. 

The young lad had to work hard first on a farm 
and later in a country store. He loved books and 
wanted to get an education. After receiving some 
instruction in the schools at home, he attended the 
University of Kentucky. While here and at Bethany 
College, he paid his own expenses, cooked his own 
meals, and lived as cheaply as possible. To obtain 
money he taught school. 

At college he dropped half of his name. His full 
name was James Beauchamp Clark. He thought this 
was too long so he shortened it to plain Champ 
Clark. 

He was a hard student and loved history and the 
lives of great men. When he graduated from 
Bethany College, he won highest honors, having made 
the best grades ever recorded in that school. 

He now became a college professor and was 
chosen president of Marshall College. He was only 
twenty-three years old and was the youngest college 
president in the United States. 

His ambition was to be a lawyer, so he entered the 
Cincinnati Law School where he again graduated 
with highest honors. He now turned toward the 
West and settled at Witchita, Kansas. Here his 
affairs turned out poorly. He had no law practice 
and his money was soon gone. All that remained was 
his clothes. He had farmed as a boy, so the young 
lawyer again worked by the day as a common farm 
laborer. He took off his plug hat and his shoes, 
rolled up his long Prince Albert coat in a bundle, 



266 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

and bareheaded and barefooted followed the plow 
out on the Kansas plains. He was determined to make 
his living honestly and was not too proud to work. 
A friend asked him to write an essay. He did this 
and received twenty-five dollars. With this money 
he started for Missouri. 

He first settled at Louisiana, Pike county, Missouri, 
where he was principal of the high school one year 
at a good salary and later made his home in Bowling 
Green. He was a fine teacher here, as he had been 
in Kentucky and West Virginia. The next year he 
opened a law office. While waiting for business, he 
edited a newspaper. He soon showed the people that 
he was a good lawyer and a fine speaker. 

One of the ablest lawyers in Louisiana was David 
A. Ball, a small man in size but a big one in brains. 
Ball liked the young Kentuckian, and they formed a 
law partnership. They became the closest friends 
and are to this day. Either would sacrifice all he had 
for the other. Clark's ambition was some day to be 
elected to Congress, Ball's ambition was to be 
Governor of Missouri. 

The first test of their friendship came soon. 
Ball had ^begun a lawsuit against a certain 'farmer 
and this m.an had two sons, each six feet tall and 
powerful. They came into the little law office to 
whip Ball. When they entered, Clark was at his 
desk and hardly noticed them until both struck at 
Ball, who tried to dodge their blows. Clark pulled 
out a drawer of his desk, took out a big Coitus six- 
shooter revolver and said : 

''Here, you fellows! I'm the fighting man of this 
firm." 



Chapm Clark, 1850- 267 

One of the big fellows jumped through the window. 
The other climbed over a table and left quickly. 

It wasn't long until Clark was in politics. He was 
elected prosecuting attorney and was a good one. 
He stopped the professional gambling that was then 
common in Pike county. He was the terror of all 
law-breakers. 

He was then elected to represent Pike county in 
the Missouri Legislature. Here he was prominent 
in debate and was recognized as a leader of men. 
He was the author or supporter of several important 
laws that are still in force. One of these is the 
Australian Ballot law, another an anti-trust law. 
He made such a fine record that he ran for election- 
to Congress two years later. 

He was defeated in 1890, but was successful in 
1B92. He has been reelected every since except in 
1894. Today Champ Clark is serving his twenty- 
fourth year in Congress. Prior to 1912 the Republi- 
can party was in control of Congress, so Champ 
Clark as a member of the minority party — the Demo- 
crat — had little influence in making laws. He was 
one of the leaders of the Democrats and finally became 
the chief leader. His greatest work was his fight 
on taking from the Speaker of the House of Repre- 
sentatives the power he had to appoint all committees 
and to virtually control all law-making. 

When the Democrats gained control of the House 
of Representatives in 1912, Clark was elected Speaker. 
He still holds this high oflftce and by both Democrats 
and Republicans is regarded highly. His friends are 
many. 



268 Missouri's Hall of Fame. 

One of the most eventful years of his life was the 
year 1912. The Republican party was divided into 
two parties — the Republican and the Progressive. 
Under such conditions, it was not probable that 
either would be able to elect its leader President of 
the United States. This meant that whoever the 
Democrats chose (or nominated) as their leader 
would probably be elected President. 

Champ Clark was a candidate for nomination. 
The Democrats sent delegates to their national 
convention. These delegates were to select the 
Democrat leader who would run for president. More 
delegates were at first for Champ Clark than for any 
other man. In fact he received a majority of the 
votes. The Democrat party has a rule that no man 
can be nominated President unless he receives two- 
thirds the votes of the convention delegates. Clark 
failed to obtain two-thirds of the votes. After many 
votes were taken, Clark was finally defeated, and 
Woodrow Wilson was nominated. That November 
in 1912, Woodrow Wilson was elected President of 
the United States. This shows how close Champ 
Clark came to being President of this nation. 

Many are the stories told of this truly interesting 
and able statesman. He is a man of fine appearance, 
large and well built. He is a good speaker and an 
excellent debater. He loves children and he is a man 
of wide sympathy. Altho his first born child has 
been dead over a quarter of a century, he still mourns 
and remembers with sorrow. 

He has always been a lover of books and is a deep 
student of history. He is not a rough man but is a 
forceful one. Good natured, frank and loyal, it is 
little wonder that his friends are manv. 



Chapm Clark, 1850- 269 

He hates shams and loves simplicity. In speaking 
he is direct and sincere. His lectures have carried 
him over the nation and his magazine articles have 
been read by thousands. He is a member of the 
Christian Church and a loyal supporter of that body. 
A college graduate, he has the highest regard for a 
college education. His stories and sayings are widely 
known. These are some of the latter, which show 
his character: 

*'I am not going to help any man plunder the 
American people because he happens to live in 
Missouri." 

"He serves his party best who serves his country 
best." 

"The worst enemies of our race are those who 
debauch public opinion." 



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